CHINHOYI, Zimbabwe – A magistrate ordered site inspections of two potential burial locations for former President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday, reigniting the contentious dispute over the late leader’s final resting place.
Magistrate Kudzanai Mahaso granted village head Tinos Manongovere’s request to inspect both the National Heroes Acre in Harare, where the government wants Mugabe buried, and the family cemetery in Zvimba where he currently rests.
“The court will conduct inspections at both locations tomorrow,” said Kudzanai Gombiro, lawyer for the Mugabe family, speaking outside the Chinhoyi Magistrates Court. “This is a sensitive matter that requires careful consideration of both traditional customs and family wishes.”
The case stems from a 2021 ruling by Chief Zvimba ordering Grace Mugabe, the former president’s widow, to exhume her husband’s remains from their Kutama homestead for reburial at the national shrine. The traditional leader claims the current burial violates local customs.
Chief Zvimba, whose given name is Stanley Wurayayi Mhondoro, found Grace guilty of violating traditional customs through the burial arrangement. He imposed a fine of five cows and two goats, a penalty that sparked debate about the intersection of traditional and modern law in Zimbabwe.
The burial location has been disputed since Mugabe’s death in Singapore in September 2019. His family resisted a three-week campaign by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to inter him at Heroes Acre, where the state had constructed a special mausoleum.
“The placement of a person’s grave carries deep spiritual significance in our culture,” said Dr. Sarah Mabhena, a local tradition expert. “These decisions traditionally involve extensive family consultation.”
The National Heroes Acre, designed with North Korean assistance in the early 1980s, serves as the final resting place for prominent figures from Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. Mugabe led the country from independence in 1980 until his resignation under military pressure in 2017.
Grace Mugabe faces potential penalties if she fails to comply with the court’s eventual ruling. The case has drawn attention across southern Africa, where traditional and modern governance systems often intersect.
