For God’s Sake, Zimbabweans Should Allow Mugabe To Rest In Peace

There is no denying the fact that when someone dies, he or she is usually expected to rest in peace, as that remains the prayer point of his or her loved ones that are still alive. Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to say the soul of late Zimbabwean leader, Robert Mugabe, should be allowed to rest in peace. Notwithstanding that some people, across Africa have continued to say that he was an evil dictator who should have ended his days in jail for crimes against humanity, commendation should be given to him for being a revolutionary hero, who fought racial oppression and stood up against Western imperialism and neo-colonialism in his earthly journey.

As you read this, not few people will in their minds be asking this writer “Wetin concern you with wetin dey happen for Zimbabwe?” To me, it concerns me as Nigeria played a central role in the independence struggle of the African country, and this provided the background to the establishment of cooperation and cordial relations shortly after the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. Also, an African proverb says, “What affects the nose must also affect the eyes that must weep for it”. To aptly put it, Zimbabweans are our brothers and sisters.

Permit me to say that I am not happy with Zimbabweans concerning the way they are dishonoring the hero in death, and not considering the fact that he delivered independence for Zimbabwe after decades of white-minority rule. To me, notwithstanding that he was not liked for the despotic manner he ruled them, they should at least think of the good things he did while alive as a leader, and eschew the obsession of reburying him contrary to his deathbed wish.

At this juncture, one may not be wrong to say that not few readers of this piece would be wondering about what actually inspired this writer to express this opinion. In fact, what triggered the inspiration cannot be farfetched as since Mugabe died at the age of 95 in September, 2019 he has seemingly not rested in peace as one controversy to another keeps trailing his death. One of the controversies that has erupted after his burial was the one that dwells on the need for him to be reburied. Not only is the issue controversial, it is superstitious in nature as it surrounds witchcraft and the hunt to find a sacred Sceptre.

In fact, nearly two years after her husband’s burial at his family homestead, Grace Mugabe is facing mounting pressure for her to accede to the exhumation of her late husband’s body so that it can be moved to a new site. She has for the umpteenth time being summoned before a traditional court hearing this, and on such invitations being warned that if she fails to honor the invitation, “they will proceed with the case” in her absence.

In the light of the foregoing, a traditional Zimbabwean court in May 2021, ruled that late President be exhumed and reburied at the country's national shrine by July 1, according to the ruling.

The decision came following a hearing conducted in Zvimba, 98 kilometers (61 miles) west of the capital, Harare, in the absence of the former president's widow, Grace Mugabe, who was in Singapore.

In his ruling, Chief Stanly Wurayayi Mhondoro said the late Mugabe "shall be exhumed and reburied at the National Heroes Acre in Harare within 30 days or before the 1st of June 2021."

Though the Court ruling is yet to be adhered to, not few Zimbabweans are urging President Emerson Mnangwagwa’s led government to address the motives behind Mugabe exhumation or even perish the thought.

Those urging the government to address the issue are obviously raising eyebrows as to the reason why the remains of the late former President should be exhumed from his rural graveyard in Kutama village in Zvimba, and be interred at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.

Though Mugabe's family members have tried their best in halting the exhumation after appealing the traditional court ruling at the Chinhoyi Magistrates Court, but the appeal has been dismissed twice on technical ground.

There is a popular view that from the look of things, the case is far from over as the family is likely to appeal to a superior court because the Chinhoyi Magistrates Court was the court of first instance.

But if I may ask, what is the hullaballoo about the exhumation of Mugabe’s remains? After all, the Bible in Ecclesiastes 38:23 says: “When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest; and be comforted for him, when his spirit is departed from him.”

So, given the strength of the foregoing scripture, why are Zimbabweans struggling and fighting hard to deny Mugabe eternal rest? As gathered, Mugabe made it clear while celebrating Heroes Day in August 2019, that he did not want to be buried at the national shrine, presumably because he was bitter with the way he was hounded out of office by his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in a military coup in November 2017.

Again, not few Zimbabweans were of the opinion that exhuming Mugabe’s remains for reburial at the national shrine would contradict Christian tenets, cultural values and his deathbed wishes.

More worrisome to those opposed to the burial is that there were powerful forces behind the move to exhume his remains against his family’s consent for personal gain. Widespread claims were that Mugabe, who ruled the country for more than three decades, was buried with a sceptre that enhances the powers of the leader of the country. It is alleged that when Mugabe was toppled from power, he never surrendered the sceptre.

The suspicion which is no doubt shrouded in superstition fly in the face of modernity and Christian tenets. How the government’s officials collectively descend so low to have come to the belief that a sceptre can possess powers to turn around the fortunes of the country?

Finally, it is expedient to join voices with Zimbabweans urging President Emerson Mnangwagwa to allow the soul of his predecessor to rest in peace, and allow his surviving wife, Grace, to live peacefully as a widow.