THE body of former President Robert Mugabe is expected in Harare today in the afternoon, family spokesperson Mr Leo Mugabe said yesterday.

The body was initially set to be airlifted from Mugabe’s Kutama Village to Harare yesterday, but the programme changed at the last minute as the family keeps intense security on it.

In an interview yesterday, Mr Mugabe said the body will be airlifted to Harare today.

“Initially it was supposed to be airlifted to Harare on Tuesday, but the programme has been changed for today (Wednesday.)

“Church services were conducted yesterday at his rural home and another one will be conducted tomorrow (today) in the morning. Soon after lunch the body will be airlifted to Harare,” he said.

It is however not yet clear what will happen to the body once it gets to Harare. Details have however since come up that the family is considering flying the body back to Singapore for “safe keeping” until the place for its final burial at the Heroes Acre is constructed.

The family has been closely guarding the body far from the hands of the state machinery amid details that Mugabe in his last wishes ordered that his body be protected from President Emmerson Mnangagwa who he claimed could use it for ritual purposes.

The body is expected to remain in preservation at least for the next three weeks while a special mausoleum is being built for it at the National Heroes Acre.

The family has not been willing to disclose where the body will be kept until it’s burial.