Government has conferred a special honour on the country’s
founding President, Cde Robert Mugabe, by constructing a mausoleum at the
National Heroes Acre’s hilltop where the former leader will be buried,
President Mnangagwa has said.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of
the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) said Cde Mugabe will only be buried upon
completion of the mausoleum, to be built at the apex of the hill that hosts the
national shrine.
President Mnangagwa said this at State House last night
while addressing journalists after meeting Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who is among Heads of State and Government that arrived
yesterday to pay their condolences.
President Mnangagwa said today’s State funeral service, to
be held at the National Sports Stadium, will proceed as planned.
“We are having service tomorrow (today) at National Sports
Stadium,” he said. “We are building a
mausoleum for our founding father at the top of the hill at Heroes Acre, (on
Sunday) it won’t be finished, so we will only bury him after we have completed
the construction of the mausoleum.”
Asked how long it will take to finish the mausoleum,
President Mnangagwa said work had already begun.
“It is far much easier to ask the builders on its
completion,” he said. “If l say it’s going to be finished tomorrow and it is
not, you write; ‘President tells a lie’.”
Turning to the discussion he held with President Mbasogo,
President Mnangagwa said the Equatorial Guinea leader had visited Cde Mugabe in
Singapore, a few days before he passed on.
“He is the last Head of State who visited our late former
President Mugabe in Singapore, l think four days before he passed on,” he said.
“So, he was conveying to me the discussions he had with our
founding father when they met in Singapore on his way from TICAD (the Tokyo
International Conference of African Development) Japan.”
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building
constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a
deceased person or people.
Before meeting President Mbasogo, President Mnangagwa held
a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy Mr Gu Shengzu, who
is Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Mr Gu said he had
been sent by his President to represent him during the funeral wake of Cde
Mugabe.
“I am here to represent President Xi Jinping as a special
envoy for tomorrow (today)’s activities,” he said. “The former President Mugabe
was an old friend of China, he visited China 14 times. He was also a good
friend to Chinese people providing support to China on issues concerning our
core interests and major concerns.” Herald
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