By A Correspondent- Mugabe’s sister Regina Gata told mourners that the late leader’s widow Grace had foiled plans by people who wanted to use her brother’s body for rituals.

Gata showered her late brother’s widow Grace with praises for her heroic stance and commitment to the wishes of her late husband Robert Mugabe adding that she defended his body to the grave.

She said:

“She (Grace) stood as a hero and said she would not betray him even on his death bed.

She took care of him in life and death and defended his body so that nobody could defile it.

There are others who wanted to do traditional things on it, but we stood firm and said no.”

Gata however said the decision to bury Mugabe at his rural home was not done by his widow but the family who simply wanted to respect Mugabe’s wish where he had indicated that he did not want to be buried at the National Heroes Acre.

Added Gata:

“They simply respected the wishes of a dead person, this is not their doing and I am here to vindicate them.”

The late president’s relatives claimed there were people that wanted to “defile” the 95-year-old’s body for ritual purposes.

Mugabe’s family decided to bury him in Kutama after initially agreeing that his remains be interred at the Heroes Acre in Harare.

A mausoleum was already being constructed at the national shrine.

At the burial site in Kutama, which is in his homestead’s courtyard, the family tightened security and a top engineering firm was hired to secure the grave. Angle iron screens and toughened locks were installed to seal the entire house which was built by Mugabe’s first wife, Sally.

Initially journalists and other mourners were prevented from accessing the burial site. They were only given access during the burial late in the afternoon.

Insiders said the grave was cast with thick concrete, lined with stainless steel plates and reinforced with steel.

“The high security is premised on the grounds that we fear there are people who want to steal his body for ritual purposes and we are just basically taking precautions,” a member of the Mugabe family said.

-Newsday