Foreign leaders, supporters and ordinary citizens were, on Saturday, attending the state funeral of Zimbabwe’s founder Robert Mugabe, after a week of disputes over his burial that threatened to embarrass his successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 37 years, from independence until he was ousted by the army in November 2017.
He died in a Singapore hospital on Sept. 6, aged 95.
His remains will be interred in a mausoleum at the National Heroes Acre in the capital Harare in about 30 days, his nephew said on Friday, contradicting earlier comments that burial would be held on Sunday.
Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former deputy, who conspired to topple him, said late on Friday that building the mausoleum would delay the burial of the man, who was once his mentor.
On Saturday, Mnangagwa walked behind the casket carrying Mugabe’s body as it was wheeled into the centre of Harare’s National Sports Stadium and placed on a podium decorated with flowers so that ordinary…
Source: Thisday Newspaper
