Mugabe, according to reports, feared his liver would be used for ritual purposes by the Emmerson Mnangagwa regime. It was made clear his body should be guarded by his close family until burial.
He was interred in a steel coffin and his grave was filled with concrete, making it impossible to access without detection.
Family sources said his widow is reluctant to return home for fear the government intends to arrest her for alleged crimes.
Top among them are allegations levelled against her in the 2019 land audit report by Supreme Court judge Tendai Uchena, which claims she clandestinely acquired state land worth at least $10m (R140m) for residential purposes without paying for it because of political clout.
Russell Goreraza, her son from her first marriage, was arrested and brought before the courts in April on theft charges after allegedly ordering the removal of a gold processing plant worth $130,000 (R1.8m) at a mine in Mazowe. The mine is located at the former first lady’s Iron Mask farm. Goreraza is out on bail but the state took his passport.
Family sources said of the Mugabe children, only Bona and her husband Simba Chikore are based in Harare, while Chatunga and his brother Robert junior are between SA and Singapore.
Grace “has no plans of coming back to Zimbabwe”, according to a close relative.
Another relative said: “I don’t know, but I doubt it.”
SOURCE: TimesLive