The plane transporting the body of Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe has arrived in the capital, the plane touched down at Harare’s Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport shortly after 1330 GMT
Mugabe’s wife Grace and Zimbabwean Vice President Kembo Mohadi were among those accompanying the body of the former leader on the plane, Leo Mugabe, a nephew and family spokesman, said.
Zimbabwe ministry of information has tweeted a video showing President Emmerson Mnangagwa coming out to meet the plane.
We are live at the RGM International Airport for the arrival of the body of the late founding father, former President Robert Mugabe. #RIPMugabe https://t.co/DzgM5JJchT
— Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting (@InfoMinZW) September 11, 2019
People had started gathering at the airport well before the scheduled arrival time, with some people wearing T-shirts bearing Mugabe’s face and others with Mnangagwa’s image, while music blared from loudspeakers.
The government has shared this video from the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport:
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
Mr Mugabe, who was 95 when he died last week, had been receiving hospital treatment in Singapore.
His remains will lie in state for two days to allow the public to pay their respects.
Family spokes person and his Nephew Leo Mugabe, declined to say where Mugabe would be buried, saying only that on arrival his body would be taken to his home in the capital, known as Blue Roof.
Mnangagwa and his party want Mugabe buried at a national monument to heroes of the liberation war against the white minority Rhodesian regime.
But some of Mugabe’s relatives have pushed back against that plan. They share Mugabe’s bitterness at the way former allies including Mnangagwa conspired to topple him and want him buried in his home village.
A government minister said on Tuesday the burial was still planned for Sunday, a day after a state funeral. But the minister said Mugabe’s burial site would only be known once the body had arrived and government officials had consulted with the family.
