Controversy follows former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe even in his grave!
A chief from Zvimba, Mugabe’s rural area, has ordered that his body be exhumed and reburied in Harare.
Chief Stanley Wurayayi Mhondoro, also known as Chief Zvimba, has ordered the body to be exhumed and reburied at a national shrine known as the Heroes Acre, where war heroes are buried.
Two weeks ago, the chief summoned former first lady Grace Mugabe to appear before his court on 20 May, but she did not come. The court proceeded to hear the matter in her absence and then fined her five cows and a goat for burying Mugabe at the courtyard.
In a stamped and dated letter written in Shona posted on the ZimLive Twitter account, the chief ordered Mugabe’s wife to deliver the fine before 1 July.
“You must go and collect the clothes for the deceased that are all over various state houses and take them to his home in Kutama. You are required to do so within 30 days, by 1 July,” read the letter.
The chief’s argument is that Mugabe must be buried at the shrine where her mother was buried. He said culturally, a child should be buried next to their parent, the place marked by Mugabe’s father, Chief Chidziva.
He said if she did not pay the fine and act according to instructions, the court would give the order to have things done without her. He added that if she did not pay the fine, the court would give an order to have the beast collected from her farm. He also threatened that the body will be exhumed without her consent.
“I will give permission, in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe, to have the body exhumed and be reburied at the Heroes Acre.”
Recently, Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao said the former first lady was out of the country, receiving treatment as she was ill.
He also alleged that President Emmerson Mnangagwa was behind the exhumation of Mugabe’s body because he was looking for a “sceptre” in order to able to rule Zimbabwe. He said Mnangagwa believed that Mugabe had a sceptre that was handed to him by nine powerful chiefs, giving him the power to rule.
Zhuwao had an interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGn6AfA7e-Ywith the SABC on 12 May after the chief summoned Grace to his court. The chief’s court papers were first published by Bulawayo based ZimLive newspaper. https://twitter.com/zimlive/status/1396798192235188232
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