Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Law Expert, Professor Lovemore Madhuku, says an order for the exhumation and reburial of former President Robert Mugabe issued by a traditional Chief in Zvimba District is “outrageous” and “defies logic”.
Two weeks ago, Chief Zvimba ordered the exhumation and reburial of Mugabe’s remains at the national heroes’ shrine in Harare.
The Chief accuses the late leader’s wife, Grace Mugabe, of breaking local custom by burying him at his rural home in 2019.
Grace Mugabe summoned to village court:
Madhuku says he is convinced that Chief Zvimba’s ruling cannot stand scrutiny in any superior court.
“The ruling cannot survive any scrutiny from a superior court. The first way of looking at it is to ask ourselves whether a community court, headed by Chief Zvimba, would have the power or a jurisdiction to determine that someone who’s already been buried ought to be exhumed.”
“In other words, we look at the issue as to one relating to exhuming a body that has been buried. If we look at it that way, that community court has no jurisdiction, there’s no power to do that. Because its jurisdiction only extends to customs and customary framework,” explains Madhuku.
Body of Robert Mugabe taken to his home village for burial:
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