Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has advised President
Mnangagwa to delay his visit to graves of 158 Zimbabweans who were swept by
Cyclone Idai floods across the border because the area is still inaccessible
and unsafe.
President Mnangagwa explained this in Mutare yesterday
during a briefing with officials from the provincial Department of Civil
Protection ahead of his meeting with traditional leaders from Chimanimani and
Chipinge.
The meeting seeks to chart the way forward on the
reconstruction of Cyclone Idai ravaged areas.
“I had instructed members of JOC (Joint Operations Command)
and the Minister of State for Manicaland Affairs (Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba) to assess
if we can visit the graves in Mozambique where our loved ones were buried,”
said President Mnangagwa.
“But we received advice from President Nyusi that the area
is not safe at the moment. Apparently, there are no facilities there. The
Mozambican government is looking into the logistics to make sure the visit
becomes possible.”
President Mnangagwa expressed his desire to visit the
places where Zimbabweans who were swept into Mozambique by Cyclone Idai floods
were buried to pay his respects and look into the construction of proper graves
for them.
He said he had wanted to visit Mozambique during this visit
to Manicaland, but his counterpart, President Nyusi advised against the move as
the areas were still not accessible.
More than 150 Zimbabweans who were washed away across the
border by the cyclone floods were buried in Dombwe, Mozambique.
President Mnangagwa said it was important for him and his
officials to visit the graves to pay their respects and ensure that decent graves
were built.
“Officials, including myself, should in future visit the
graves of 158 of our people who were buried in Mozambique and pay our respects
and possibly construct decent graves for them as we have done for those who
were buried here,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said last month, Government sent a team
of pathologists to help in the identification of some of the deceased through
DNA tests on the recovered unidentified bodies. Herald
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