People were after Mugabe’s body parts, family spokesperson revealed

By Farai D Hove | ANALYSIS | The late president Robert Mugabe left instructions to be buried next to his mother, instead of the National Heroes Acre in Harare with other war veterans, his nephew and family spokesperson Leo Mugabe said last year.

Leo told the state owned Zimpapers Television Network, that not only did Mugabe want to be buried in the village, but he also warned his wife Grace Mugabe to keep an eye on his remains as there were people who were apparently after his body parts.

As a precaution, Mugabe’s remains were buried in a tamper-proof casket.

Leo told the station: “Originally why we changed [the casket] was because we wanted a tamper-proof casket because you know with rituals and things like that, people really are after his body or his body parts, so we wanted something that is tamper-proof. That is why the casket was changed in the first place.

“The idea came from him because he said to his wife aunty Joyce: ‘When I’m gone, don’t leave my body, be careful because people want to use my body.’ It was him who said to the former first lady. We knew that spiritually he knows something.”

While Mnangagwa was not mentioned by name, the inferrence was very direct that it was him, since he is the one who was wrestling the body away from the family resulting in several weeks of waiting during which Mnangagwa ‘s offers for an expensive mausoleum were turned down.

More than a year later, Mnangagwa is still to comment over the very serious allegations against his name, and Mugabe’s wife, Grace has relocated to rural Kutama where she daily guards her husband’s remains.

Fast forward to this month, Zimbabwe is struggling with finding the missing body parts of a 7 year old Murehwa boy, Tapiwa Makore. The late lad’s uncles yesterday told ZimEye they are frustrated with the rate at which the police are taking to trace the missing skull, especially three weeks after a key suspect narrated almost everything they feel is needed. The person who confesses to killing the toddler has spoken on video naming the person he handed the 7-year old’s skull.

Thousands of Zimbabweans on ZimEye yesterday openly suggested that there must be some political tampering in the Makore case. Many said there is a history of killings in the country that has run for over 37 years in which tens of thousands of people’s remains are still to be found. Reached for comment, Mnangagwa is on video since 1984 denying everything, and in February last year he told the France24 broadcaster he has no knowledge of the remains of 17 people killed under his instruction in January 2019. His victims include Tinashe Choto, a young football player who was coming from a practice match at the time. Choto’s father is still crying for answers to this day.

– WHAT DO YOU THINK MUGABE KNEW ABOUT MNANGAGWA THAT WE DON’T KNOW?