Robert Mugabe buried in steel coffin encased in concrete as family claims people are ‘after his body’
Robert Mugabe was buried in a steel-lined coffin under a layer of concrete on Saturday, September 28th following a dispute over his resting place between government officials, traditional leaders and family members.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe clinches his fist while shouting “Amandla” (Power in Xhosa and Zulu) during the signing of various memorandum of understanding with South Africa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on April 8, 2015. South Africa and Zimbabwe are strengthening their bilateral relations in an effort to boost the economies of both countries. AFP PHOTO / STEFAN HEUNIS (Photo credit should read STEFAN HEUNIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Nearly a month after he died, the body of the former leader was finally buried next to his home in Kutama, Zvimba, the village of his birth, 55 miles north west of Harare. His eldest nephew, Leo Mugabe, who played a central role in the prolonged burial drama, said the coffin which brought his embalmed body to Harare from Singapore had to be changed for security reasons.
“People really are after his body or his body parts, so we wanted something that is tamper-proof. That is why the casket was changed,” he said.
After the coffin was lowered into the ground in a private ceremony close to the home which Grace Mugabe had built after their marriage, concrete was laid down around it. Mugabe’s family claimed that this was the burial place he had ultimately wanted and had spoken of in the last six months of his life in Singapore, angry that he had been ousted from power two years ago by his long-time ally, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mrs Mugabe, 54, draped in heavy black lace for more than three weeks, had made it clear to all who would listen that President Mnangagwa and his loyalists were not welcome at the burial
Crucially, it would also have meant him being buried next to his first wife, Sally Mugabe, still regarded by many as the “mother” of the Zimbabwean nation.
