The family of late Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, have been ordered to exhume his remains for reburial at a monument to Zimbabwe’s national heroes.
The order was given by a local Chief after accusing Mugabe’s second wife, Grace, of breaking local custom by burying him at his rural home. Chief Zvimba, whose district includes Kutama, said he had received a complaint from a Mugabe clan member over the manner of his burial.
Mugabe’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had pushed for his burial at the monument for liberation war heroes shortly after his death, but his family refused, saying Mugabe had expressed fears to close family members before his death that some of the people who ousted him, would seek to conduct a traditional ritual with his body parts.
It would be recalled that Mugabe, whose authoritarian 37-year rule was ended by a coup in November 2017, was buried at his village of Kutama in 2019 after weeks of dispute with the government of Mnangagwa.
This new development now means that senior officials who made it clear that they wanted the remains of the former dictator to be buried at Zimbabwe’s national heroes’ shrine outside Harare, may now have their way.
Mnangagwa was a close aide and ally of Mugabe and has sought to reinforce his own image through association with the former revolutionary leader, while much of the legitimacy of the ruling Zanu-PF party relies on the legacy of the late president.
Chiefs in Zimbabwe have jurisdiction over their local subjects but it is rare for them to order families to exhume bodies for reburial. Many are local politicians who can broker their influence over communities with more powerful political actors.
After presiding over a village court last week, Zvimba on Monday issued a ruling that found Mugabe’s wife guilty of breaking traditional norms by burying her husband in the courtyard of his home. He also fined the former first lady who did not attend the hearing, five cows and a goat.
“I give powers to those who are permitted by law to exhume the late Robert Mugabe’s remains from Kutama and rebury them at the National Heroes Acre in Harare,” said a copy of the ruling in the local Shona language.
A list of the former ruler’s estate published by a state-owned newspaper in Zimbabwe after the funeral listed $10m (£7.7m) in the bank, some small plots of land and a handful of modest properties.
The report of the relatively limited fortune was greeted with scepticism by many in the poor southern African country. Mugabe was thought to have amassed a portfolio of investments worth billions of dollars.
Leo Mugabe, spokesman for the Mugabe family, immediately rejected the ruling, stating that: “He [Chief Zvimba] has no jurisdiction over Kutama. And even if the correct chief had made that ruling we would have appealed to the court.”
Local Chief Orders Mugabe’s Family to Exhume Body for Reburial at Heroes’ Shrine
The family of late Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, have been ordered to exhume his remains for reburial at a monument to Zimbabwe’s national heroes.
The order was given by a local Chief after accusing Mugabe’s second wife, Grace, of breaking local custom by burying him at his rural home. Chief Zvimba, whose district includes Kutama, said he had received a complaint from a Mugabe clan member over the manner of his burial.
Mugabe’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had pushed for his burial at the monument for liberation war heroes shortly after his death, but his family refused, saying Mugabe had expressed fears to close family members before his death that some of the people who ousted him, would seek to conduct a traditional ritual with his body parts.
It would be recalled that Mugabe, whose authoritarian 37-year rule was ended by a coup in November 2017, was buried at his village of Kutama in 2019 after weeks of dispute with the government of Mnangagwa.
This new development now means that senior officials who made it clear that they wanted the remains of the former dictator to be buried at Zimbabwe’s national heroes’ shrine outside Harare, may now have their way.
Mnangagwa was a close aide and ally of Mugabe and has sought to reinforce his own image through association with the former revolutionary leader, while much of the legitimacy of the ruling Zanu-PF party relies on the legacy of the late president.
Chiefs in Zimbabwe have jurisdiction over their local subjects but it is rare for them to order families to exhume bodies for reburial. Many are local politicians who can broker their influence over communities with more powerful political actors.
After presiding over a village court last week, Zvimba on Monday issued a ruling that found Mugabe’s wife guilty of breaking traditional norms by burying her husband in the courtyard of his home. He also fined the former first lady who did not attend the hearing, five cows and a goat.
“I give powers to those who are permitted by law to exhume the late Robert Mugabe’s remains from Kutama and rebury them at the National Heroes Acre in Harare,” said a copy of the ruling in the local Shona language.
A list of the former ruler’s estate published by a state-owned newspaper in Zimbabwe after the funeral listed $10m (£7.7m) in the bank, some small plots of land and a handful of modest properties.
The report of the relatively limited fortune was greeted with scepticism by many in the poor southern African country. Mugabe was thought to have amassed a portfolio of investments worth billions of dollars.
Leo Mugabe, spokesman for the Mugabe family, immediately rejected the ruling, stating that: “He [Chief Zvimba] has no jurisdiction over Kutama. And even if the correct chief had made that ruling we would have appealed to the court.”
