{"id":3109,"date":"2019-09-14T12:27:39","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T12:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/ghana\/?p=3109"},"modified":"2019-09-14T12:27:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T12:27:39","slug":"african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe","title":{"rendered":"African leaders gather to remember Mugabe"},"content":{"rendered":"

African leaders are gathering in Zimbabwe\u2019s capital Harare as the country prepares for former president Robert Mugabe\u2019s funeral on Saturday.\u00a0<\/strong>
\nMore than a dozen current and former leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, are expected to attend.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A national sports stadium is expected to be filled with well-wishers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The funeral follows a row between the Mugabe family and the government over his burial.<\/p>\n

Some dignitaries, including Equatorial Guinea President Theodore Obiang Nguema, have already arrived.<\/p>\n

Mr Obiang, who came to power in 1979 and has so far outlasted Mr Mugabe\u2019s 30-year rule by a decade, said he was \u201ca leader without comparison on the African continent\u201d and praised his controversial policy of seizing white-owned farms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of Zimbabwe will forever be grateful that he took land from the whites and gave it to his people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Members of the public have been queuing to view Robert Mugabe\u2019s body as it lies in state
\nLike Mr Obiang, many Zimbabweans are choosing to remember the former leader\u2019s achievements, rather than the political violence and economic chaos that marked the last years of his long presidency, reports BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding.<\/p>\n

His successor as president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, will address mourners at the National Sports Stadium, where thousands will wear the colours of the ruling Zanu-PF party.<\/p>\n

Image captionThe band prepared for the ceremony at the stadium on Saturday morning
\nBut many people in Harare are likely to shun the ceremony as soaring inflation and unemployment grip the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are happier now that he is gone. Why should I go to his funeral? I don\u2019t have fuel,\u201d a Harare resident told AFP. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to hear anything about him anymore. He is the cause of our problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

When and where will Mugabe be buried?
\nZimbabwe\u2019s former President Robert Mugabe will be buried in the National Heroes\u2019 Acre monument in Harare, his family says, following a row with the government over his final resting site.<\/p>\n

Family spokesman and nephew Leo Mugabe says this should be in about a month, when the new shrine to Mugabe will be built at the existing Heroes\u2019 Acre.<\/p>\n

Members of the Mugabe family prepare to view the body of the late Zimbabwean president
\nEarlier plans to have a burial on Sunday appear to have been cancelled.<\/p>\n

Mr Mugabe, who was 95, died last week while being treated in Singapore.<\/p>\n

His body is now\u00a0lying in state at the Rufaro football stadium\u00a0in the capital before the funeral on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Who was Robert Mugabe?
\nMr Mugabe was Zimbabwe\u2019s first leader after the country became independent in 1980. He held on to power for almost four decades before being ousted in the 2017 coup.<\/p>\n

During his early years, he was praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority.<\/p>\n

However his later years were marked by violent repression of his political opponents and Zimbabwe\u2019s economic ruin. An increasing number of critics labelled him a dictator.<\/p>\n

He seized land from white owners in 2000.<\/p>\n

Mr Mugabe famously declared that only God could remove him from office.<\/p>\n

In 2017 he was placed under house arrest and, four days later, replaced as the leader of his party Zanu-PF by his former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n

Mr Mugabe initially refused to resign. But, on 21 November, as a motion to impeach him was being debated in the Zimbabwean parliament, the speaker of the House of Assembly announced that he had finally left office.<\/p>\n

Mr Mugabe negotiated a deal which protected him and his family from the risk of future prosecution and enabled him to retain his various business interests.<\/p>\n

He was also granted a house, servants, vehicles and full diplomatic status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

African leaders are gathering in Zimbabwe\u2019s capital Harare as the country prepares for former president Robert Mugabe\u2019s funeral on Saturday.\u00a0 More than a dozen current and former leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, are expected to attend. A national sports stadium is expected to be filled with well-wishers. The funeral follows a row between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":3110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2063,1783,2062],"class_list":["post-3109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-african-leaders","tag-robert-mugabe","tag-zimbabwes-capital"],"yoast_head":"\nAfrican leaders gather to remember Mugabe - Ghana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"African leaders are gathering in Zimbabwe\u2019s capital Harare as the country prepares for former president Robert Mugabe\u2019s funeral on Saturday.\u00a0More than a dozen current and former leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, are expected to attend.A national sports stadium is expected to be filled with well-wishers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"African leaders gather to remember Mugabe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"African leaders are gathering in Zimbabwe\u2019s capital Harare as the country prepares for former president Robert Mugabe\u2019s funeral on Saturday.\u00a0More than a dozen current and former leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, are expected to attend.A national sports stadium is expected to be filled with well-wishers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-14T12:27:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/09\/Mugabe.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"598\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"francis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/#\/schema\/person\/3687592f7713dc6c826cf5bbd0e55bca\"},\"headline\":\"African leaders gather to remember Mugabe\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-14T12:27:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe\"},\"wordCount\":623,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/09\/Mugabe.png\",\"keywords\":[\"african leaders\",\"Robert Mugabe\",\"Zimbabwe\u2019s capital\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/african-leaders-gather-to-remember-mugabe\",\"name\":\"African leaders gather to remember Mugabe - 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