Former president Robert Mugabe’s family was told that they
risked losing his Harare mansion and other Harare properties if they did not
accede to government’s demands that the long-time ruler should be buried at the
Heroes Acre, it has emerged.
According to recordings of some of the meetings held
between government representatives and his family obtained by The Standard, the
negotiations for Mugabe’s burial have been full of twists and turns.
Mugabe, who died in Singapore on September 6 aged 95, is
said to have told his family that he did not want to be buried at the Heroes
Acre because he was bitter about the coup that
toppled him in November 2017.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa addressed a poorly attended
funeral service for his mentor at the National Sports Stadium, but his burial
date still remains unknown.
Mugabe’s family on Friday agreed that he would be buried at
the Heroes Acre only after they were promised that the government would build a
mausoleum for him.
It has since emerged that Mnangagwa’s emissaries used a
carrot-and-stick approach, including warning Mugabe’s family that they risked
losing the Blue Roof mansion in Borrowdale, if they tried to antagonise the government.
Apparently, the mansion and Mugabe’s houses in Mt Pleasant
and Waterfalls are registered under Zanu PF.
Mnangagwa was represented in meetings with the Mugabe
family and traditional leaders from Zvimba, the former Zanu PF leader’s rural
home, by former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and former
Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa.
“They told the family that they needed to be careful when
handling the burial issue and work with government because the family might
stand to lose Mugabe’s properties that are still
registered in Zanu PF name,” a family member was recorded
as saying after one of the meetings.
Gono yesterday said he did not know anything about the
threats.
Zanu PF secretary for finance Patrick Chinamasa confirmed
that Mugabe’s properties were registered under the ruling party, but refused to
comment on the alleged threats against the former president’s family.
Chinamasa said: “It’s true that the properties are
registered in the party name, but why don’t you go and talk to his daughter?”
Sources said Mugabe’s daughter, who was given the Mt
Pleasant house as a wedding gift in 2014, approached Chinamasa a fortnight ago
pleading with him to help transfer the title of the properties.
This was after unnamed Zanu PF officials started
threatening that the properties could be seized.
After several inconclusive meetings and the rift between
government and the chiefs, which played out in the public, Mnangagwa met chiefs
from Zvimba at his Harare offices.
“We will work with government,” one of the chiefs is
recorded telling Mnangagwa at the meeting. We want to clarify that we are not against the
government.”
At a separate meeting, Chiyangwa was reportedly told that
there was no guarantee that the chiefs still supported Zanu PF in the aftermath
of the coup.
“In one of the meetings, Chiyangwa was embarrassed when he
said he was also representing Zanu PF and was asked by one of the chiefs what
made him believe they were still Zanu PF supporters after the November 2017 coup,” a family member,
who attended the meeting said.
Cracks also started to appear among the chiefs with some
said to be sympathetic to Mnangagwa. They allegedly accused Mugabe’s widow
Grace of orchestrating the fallout with Mnangagwa.
“The chiefs then met again. Chief Zvimba and others who had
been sympathetic to President Emmerson Mnangagwa accused Chief Chidziva, who is
a direct relative of Mugabe, of failing to
deal with the former first lady,” a source said.
“The meeting was held around 10pm on Thursday and a
decision to summon Grace and discuss the issue was made.
“The chiefs were told she was already asleep and the
meeting dragged on until 4am when she was called and told that chiefs had
agreed to have Mugabe buried at the Heroes Acre.”
Gono held another meeting with the chiefs the following
morning, which was followed by an announcement that Mugabe would be buried at
the Heroes Acre, after all.
However, that was not the end of the drama. After stating
that a funeral service would be held at the shrine today, family spokesperson
Leo Mugabe announced that the event had been cancelled.
Sources revealed that government had already printed 25 000
obituaries and 7 000 T-shirts for today’s “mock” burial.
The chiefs met again on Friday night where they agreed that
Mugabe’s body would be taken to Zvimba for some rituals before the final
burial. Leo said the burial would now take place
after 30 days.
Information permanent secretary Nick Mangwana yesterday
said official mourning ended yesterday. He said it was now up to the family to decide where to keep
the body until burial.
When he announced Mugabe’s death, Mnangagwa said the period
for national mourning would run until Mugabe was buried. Standard
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