Robert Mugabe’s Body Arrives Zimbabwe Amid Burial Site Row

The body of Zimbabwe’s former leader Robert Mugabe, who died on 6 September has arrived the country from Singapore.

This is amid a dispute between Mugabe’s family and the government regarding where he would be buried.

Mugabe’s family had revealed that he would be buried according to local tradition.

The burial of the late leader was scheduled to hold on Sunday, 15th September but was postponed indefinitely. 

Spokesperson of the family and the late president’s nephew, Leo Mugabe said Mugabe was a chief and would be given a traditional burial.

He said, “Mugabe was a chief and he will be buried in accordance with tradition. The chiefs have not told us where he will be buried, so it is not clear yet. I also don’t know,” he said.

It was reported that in some parts of Zimbabwe, burials of chiefs are a secret affair and people are only told the resting place afterward.

His body arrived at Harare’s Robert Gabriel Mugabe international airport shortly after 1330 GMT.

According to reports, crowds had gathered at the airport well before the scheduled arrival time, with some people wearing T-shirts bearing Mugabe’s face and others with Emmerson Mnangagwa’s image, while music blared from loudspeakers.

A convoy of 4×4 vehicles with number plates bearing the letters “RG Mugabe” and the former leader’s signature was also on the runway.

The late leader, 95, died on September 6 in Singapore where he had been receiving medical treatment since April.

He ruled Zimbabwe for nearly four decades until November 2017 when he resigned.

Mugabe has since been declared a national hero.