Retired Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen. Ernest Mwita Kiaro, who died of severe prostate cancer on Thursday in Mwanza, will be laid to rest in Tarime district, Mara region, on Saturday.

Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDC) spokesman Col. Kapambala Mgawe confirmed the information, saying the burial of the 87-year-old general would start at 12:00 until 15:00 hours.

The former CDF, who served in the top military post in the 1980s under retired President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, died as he was being rushed to Bugando Referral Hospital.

Speaking in a telephone interview Gen Kiaro’s son Sylivester said the former army general had been undergoing treatment at the referral hospital for the last two years.