Robert Mugabe's family announces burial in his hometown on Saturday

The body of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrives at his rural home in Kutama. A family spokesman on Thursday said that Mugabe will be buried at the weekend in his hometown. Photo: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo.

The body of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrives at his rural home in Kutama. A family spokesman on Thursday said that Mugabe will be buried at the weekend in his hometown. Photo: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo.

Published Sep 26, 2019

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Harare - A battle over where former Zimbabwean president Robert

Mugabe should be laid to rest took another unexpected turn on

Thursday, with a family spokesman saying that he will be buried at

the weekend in his rural hometown of Kutama.

Mugabe, who died at the age of 95 in Singapore on September 6, was

both revered for his liberation politics and reviled for his later

dictatorial rule in the southern African country.

The Zimbabwean government wanted Mugabe to be buried at the National

Heroes Acre, a hilltop shrine in the capital Harare reserved for the

elite, but his family pushed for him to be laid to rest in

Kutama alongside his mother.

The two sides had eventually settled for a mausoleum at the National

Heroes Acre and a postponement of the funeral until October so that

the structure could be built.

But family spokesman Leo Mugabe told dpa on Thursday that he had

received instructions from the family to go to Kutama - located about

85 kilometres from Harare - to "make arrangements for the burial,

which is now scheduled for this Saturday."

He did not provide any further details on what had provoked the

sudden change of plans.

Work on the mausoleum in Harare had already started, with contractors

clearing land for the construction before the family's announcement.

Analysts have said that Grace Mugabe's desire to protect the fortune

accrued by her family during her husband's 37 years in power was a

factor in the tensions over the burial.

dpa

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robert mugabe