Riyaz Patel
Robert Mugabe will be buried at a monument for national heroes in the capital, Harare, Sunday, a family spokesman has confirmed, as the row over the funeral of Zimbabwe’s founding president appears to have been settled.
On Thursday, the family had said the former Zimbabwe president, whose body was flown back from Singapore Wednesday, would be buried in his home town in a private ceremony.
Mugabe’s body has been lying in state in Harare since Thursday after the government announced three days of national mourning.
“I can confirm that he will be buried at the National Heroes Acre on Sunday,” Mugabe’s nephew and family spokesman Leo Mugabe said Friday.
He added that an official ceremony would be followed by a private family event at the monument to heroes of the liberation war against white minority rule.
Some of Mugabe’s relatives have expressed bitterness at the way former close associates, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, overthrew him.
Mnangagwa, a one-time protege of Mugabe, called the former president a “national icon” after his death.
Mugabe fired Mnangagwa in 2017, in what many believed was an attempt to position his wife Grace to succeed him. Mugabe was overthrown by the military, supported by former loyalists, following massive countrywide protests calling for the long-time ruler to step down.
Foreign dignitaries were expected to arrive in Harare ahead of the state funeral planned to be held at the country’s National Sports Stadium Saturday.
Eleven Heads of State and eight former Presidents from various African countries have so far confirmed their attendance at the late former President’s funeral service.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the South African delegation, with China’s President Xi Jinping also confirming his attendance.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, meanwhile, called Mnangagwa to allow senior Zanu-PF members, who are in self-imposed exile, to return to Zimbabwe to attend Mugabe’s funeral.
