PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has cut short his trip to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Cape Town, South Africa to chair a potentially explosive meeting to discuss former President Robert Mugabe’s burial arrangement.
Reports in the past few weeks claimed Mugabe had indicated he would not want to be buried at the national heroes acre where source argue a grave had long been allocated to him.
He is expected to jet in Friday afternoon and will miss the last session of the WEF that was ending on the same day.
Information Ministry secretary Nick Mangwana confirmed the development.
“He was supposed to leave much later but he will be back much earlier,” said Mnangwana.
Mugabe died on Friday in Singapore where he was receiving treatment. Mnangagwa is expected to chair a Ppolitburo meeting, hastily arranged to deal with issues around Mugabe’s burial.
During his time in power Mugabe reportedly forced quite a number of his dead colleagues who would have refused to be buried at the national shrine to be dragged and laid to rest there were he would deliver moving eulogies and use the platform to lash out at his critics.
It was reported that Mugabe wanted to be buried at his Zvimba rural home in Mashonaland West province.
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo however professed ignorance of the pending politburo indaba.
“There is no meeting, there is no politburo. We are waiting for President Mnangagwa who arrives anytime this afternoon and he will decide if there is anything like that or not,” said Moyo.
State media reported that Mnangagwa would issue a statement on arrival at the Robert Mugabe International Airport.
Information received by NewZimbabwe.com indicates that Mnangagwa wants to settle the matter of where Mugabe will be buried with his party leadership, some of whom were hounded out of the party by the late leader.
His wife Grace reportedly led a faction of the ruling party that at its height saw the fleeing of Mnangagwa in November 2017 fearing that his life was in danger.
Mugabe was eventually deposed in a military assisted coup a few weeks later after almost 40 years in power.
