Mnangagwa mourns top civil servant Francis sonny Mapingire

President Mnangagwa has described the late Head of Cabinet Secretariat in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr Francis Sonny Mapingire, as a dignified, humble and dedicated cadre.

Mr Mapingire succumbed to cancer of the colon at a private hospital in Harare on Christmas Day.

He was 57.

In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration and Finance in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr Martin Rushwaya during a funeral service at ZAOGA Braeside Christian Centre International, the President said he learnt of the untimely death of Mr Mapingire with a great sense of shock and sadness.

“Mr Mapingire was a regular and familiar face in the Cabinet where he dutifully and diligently carried out secretarial chores in a humble and dignified manner.

“He commanded respect from all of us in the Cabinet and his passing on leaves a yawning gap in the Secretariat which will be difficult to fill,” said President Mnangagwa.

He said Mr Mapingire’s death was painful considering he was taken away on a day when families get together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

“Sadly, the day turned out to be a dark Christmas for his family as Francis passed on later that day. Celebration turned to mourning,” he said.

President Mnangagwa encouraged the Mapingire family to derive comfort from the knowledge that Government shares in their deep grief and great loss.

His death follows that of his younger brother, Salatiel, on November 18.

state media