Grace Mugabe, the former First Lady of Zimbabwe, is expected to challenge a chief’s verdict that she broke traditional rules by burying former President Robert Mugabe at the family farm in Zvimba communal grounds.
Fungai Chimwamurombe, Mrs. Mugabe’s lawyer, has sought the Chinhoyi courts to overturn Chief Zvimba’s decision, ordering her to exhume her husband’s bones and rebury them at Harare’s National Heroes Acre.
According to Chimwamurombe, the appeal is based on “lack of jurisdiction, irregularity of relief granted, irregular delivery of summons, and bias in the judgment.”
The Zimbabwean government wanted Mugabe to be laid to rest at a special mausoleum at the National Heroes’ Acre but his family refused, saying he wanted to be buried near the grave of his late mother, Bona.
The chief fined Mrs. Mugabe five cattle and a goat for burying the former president at his homestead instead of the family cemetery in Kutama village.
The Mugabe family rejected the village court order with the late president’s nephew, Leo Mugabe, saying they will fight the case to the bitter end.
In an interview recently, Leo Mugabe said, “It’s a ruling against a widow and the widow has nothing to do with the burying of her husband … This judgment is irrelevant if you were to ask me because in any case, Chief Zvimba does not preside over cases here.”
Mugabe and other family members and Chief Zvimba were unreachable on their mobile phones.