Mugabe’s body arrives back in Zimbabwe
body of Zimbabwe’s expresident, Robert Mugabe, arrived home on Wednesday for burial in a country divided over the legacy of a former liberation hero whose 37-year rule was marked by repression and economic ruin.
Mugabe, a guerrilla leader who rose to power after Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain and governed until he was ousted by the military in 2017, died on Friday in Singapore, aged 95. His health deteriorated after he was toppled by the army and former loyalists in November 2017, ending an increasingly iron-fisted rule during which he crushed his opponents.
Around two thousand supporters, family members and government officials were on the tarmac at Harare airport to welcome Mugabe’s remains.
Soldiers stood guard along a red carpet as military officers walked solemnly with the coffin draped in the green, gold, black and red national flag. Yet Harare residents seemed largely unconcerned, with shops remaining open and people going about their daily errands.
His widow Grace, wearing a black veil, sat with President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mugabe died on a medical trip to Singapore, where he had been travelling regularly for treatment. A delegation including Vice-President Kembo Mohadi chartered a flight to the affluent city-state to bring his remains home.
The body will be taken to Mugabe’s private Harare residence, known as the Blue Roof, for the night. It will be laid out for the public to pay their respects in Rufaro stadium on Thursday, before heading to his homestead Zvimba. The state funeral is on Saturday at the giant 60,000-seat National Sports Stadium in Harare.
His final burial place on Sunday, though, is still unclear.
His family and Mnangagwa’s government are apparently at odds over whether it should be at his homestead northwest of Harare or at a shrine for liberation heroes in the capital.
A relative has said that in line with native Shona customs, traditional chiefs from Zvimba will have the final say on where the former leader will be buried. –
Harare residents showed little concern with shops remaining open