Mugabe’s family fights government over funeral plans
The family of Robert Mugabe is fighting the government over ongoing arrangements for his funeral.
The Mugabe family has expressed shocked at not being involved in the preparations for the funeral of the former Zimbabwean president.
Mugabe’s body arrived back in Zimbabwe on Wednesday after dying last week in Singapore while undergoing a medical treatment.
The funeral ceremony of Mugabe who died aged 95 will take place at a football stadium in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare on Saturday.
Although the family and the government had initially disagreed on his burial place, they are now clashing over his funeral.
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Mr Mugabe’s family says his body will be displayed in his home village of Kutama on Sunday before a private burial ceremony.
His nephew Leo Mugabe told the AFP news agency that “His body will lie in state at Kutama on Sunday night… followed by a private burial – either Monday or Tuesday – no National Heroes’ Acre [the national monument for liberation heroes]. That’s the decision of the whole family.”
Zimbabwe has declared Mugabe a national hero. Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924, in what was then Rhodesia.
He led Zimbabwe to independence in 1980 and has ruled the country for decades.
Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader but resigned from power after a military takeover in November 2017.
Robert Mugabe first served as prime minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as president from 1987 to 2017.
Source: Africafeeds.com
