FORMER President Robert Mugabe’s burial place has now been confirmed to the the National Heroes acre amid reports that his family wants a mausoleum erected a distance away from the grave of his first wife Sally Mugabe.
The Heroes Acre-burial decision was arrived at after serious family and government consultations.
Sources told this publication that in a one-on-one meeting between former first lady Grace Mugabe and President Emmerson mnangagwa, the Mugabes wanted a mausoleum erected just a distance away from the grave of Sally Mugabe.
Among other demands, Grace had sought to have her fellow colleagues who escaped into exile following a military intervention in November 2017 to be allowed to come back into the country without being “persecuted“.
“She wanted the likes of former ministers Saviour Kasukuwere, Jonathan Moyo and Patrick Zhuwao to be allowed back into the country without any charges be leveled against them,” the source said.
“Mnangagwa stuck to his guns and assured only the first family immunity but not the rest of the G40 kingpins.”
“It is this decision which contributed to the delayed announcement of Mugabe’s final resting place,” the source said.
Highly placed sources revealed that on Thursday , after Grace and Mnangagwa’s meeting, government dispatched a team comprising of Director General Isaac Moyo, Munyaradzi Kajese and Walter Chidakwa to the National Heroes Acre to identify the area where the mausoleum can be constructed.
A mausoleum is a building housing a tomb or group of tombs. Popular mausoleums include the famous Taj Mahal built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth.
Mnangagwa declared Mugabe a national hero as justice to his contribution to the liberation struggle and his role as founding father of the independent Zimbabwe.
The two were for decades comrades-in-arms despite a plethora of ideological differences that emerged between them towards the twilight of Mugabe’s political career.
According to sources, the differences were fueled by Grace Mugabe’s interference into presidium matters amid reports that she was positioning herself for the vice presidency, a post then occupied by Mnangagwa.