Robert Mugabe: Zimbabweans flock to welcome leader’s body at airport [video]

Scores of Zimbabweans flocked to Robert Mugabe International Airport to welcome the body of their liberator, five days after he was declared dead in Singapore.

Robert Mugabe: When is the funeral?

While it is almost certain that former Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe, will be laid to rest on Sunday, 15 September, the chiefs of Zvimba, a district of Mashonaland West Province, have yet to decide where he will be buried.

According to the family spokesperson, Leo Mugabe, there has not been any finality on when and where Robert Mugabe is going to be buried.

This, he claimed, is only due to the fact that the procession will be rooted in the former Zimbabwean leader’s cultural traditions.

“The chiefs in Zvimba still regard him as a chief and in terms of tradition, they are the ones that determine where is he going to be buried, how is he going to be buried, the procedures that must be followed in his burial.

“This is a cultural thing and nobody can push the chiefs to divulge where they are going to bury [Mugabe],” he said.

The family spokesperson also addressed rumours that there had been a fallout with the Zimbabwean government in arrangements for Mugabe’s burial. This, Leo Mugabe noted, was far from true.

“To say there is a feud is not correct, it’s not true. We’ve been meeting with the government and everything has been very smooth. There’s understanding, there’s clarity on responsibilities and therefore there’s no feud whatsoever,” said Leo Mugabe.

Watch: Zimbabweans await Mugabe’s body at airport

On Wednesday, large crowds of Zimbabweans flocked to the airport named after the country’s liberator to welcome his body, which is expected to arrive at any moment.

Thousands of Zimbabweans gathered next to the airport’s runway, singing and rejoicing in anticipation of the landing of the aircraft carrying their liberator.

Part of the crowd that has gathered to receive the body of the late former President Robert Mugabe #RIPMugabe pic.twitter.com/OIx7aDy94C

— Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting (@InfoMinZW) September 11, 2019

People start to flock into Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport to welcome the body of Zimbabwe's late founding father former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe who died on 6 September 2019 in Singapore #RIPMugabe pic.twitter.com/KMdNkzN4uD

— Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting (@InfoMinZW) September 11, 2019

Zimbabwe’s current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa was not present at the airport. Instead, he led burial proceedings of the late Major-General Trust Mugoba.

At the funeral, Mnangagwa warned that those who use these highly emotive times to steer unrest would face the full might of the law.

“Let it be known that under the second Republic, the rule of law shall be applied without exception. My government will not allow the abuse of the constitutionally enshrined democratic rights & freedoms, that cadres like the late Major-General Mugoba fought so hard to achieve,” he said.