M ugabe’s body to be flown home for Zimbabwe burial

FORMER Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (right) is expected to be buried next Sunday, according to State media reports.

The ex-guerrilla leader became the southern African country’s first leader following independence from white minority rule in 1980 and held on to power until he was forced to resign in 2017.

He died in Singapore on Friday at the age of 95. His body will arrive in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, the Sunday Mail quoted presidential spokesman George Charamba as saying.

Mr Mugabe is still regarded by many as a national hero, with some even beginning to say they missed him after his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former ally turned foe, failed to revive the economy and used the army to crush dissent.

According to Mr Charamba, Mr Mnangagwa and family members will receive Mr Mugabe’s body at the airport named after the former president in the capital, Harare.

The body will be taken to his rural home, around 50 miles south-west of Harare, before being placed in a giant stadium for public viewing.

Mr Mnangagwa, who described Mr Mugabe as “a great teacher and mentor”, declared him a national hero, the highest posthumous award in the country, and said official mourning will only end after the burial at the National Heroes Acre, a hilltop shrine which is reserved exclusively for Zimbabweans who made huge sacrifices during the war against white-minority rule. In death, Mr Mugabe received praise from his former political and military allies, who propped up his rule for close to four decades before forcing him out in 2017.

“He died a very bitter man,” family spokesman and nephew Leo Mugabe told reporters at the family home on Saturday.

“Imagine the people that are guarding you, that you trusted the most, turn against you.”