This archive report was first published on 11 September 2019.
Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's body was flown to Zimbabwe on Wednesday, five days after his death in a Singapore hospital.
According to family spokesman Leo Mugabe, a nephew, the body was expected to arrive at the airport at 3:00 p.m. (1300 GMT) and would be received by family and government members.
Leo Mugabe stated that Mugabe's wife, Grace, and Zimbabwean Vice President Kembo Mohadi were among those accompanying the body.
However, the final resting place of Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years until his ousting in November 2017, remained a mystery amidst a dispute between some family members and the government.
On Thursday, ordinary Zimbabweans and supporters were expected to pay their last respects to Mugabe at a Harare soccer stadium, where the body would lie in state before being taken to his rural home in Kutama, 85 km (52 miles) from the capital.
The burial site was still a subject of debate, with the government wanting Mugabe to be buried at a national monument to heroes of the liberation war against the white minority Rhodesian regime, while some of his relatives pushed back against that plan.
They shared Mugabe's bitterness at the way former allies, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, conspired to topple him and wanted him buried in his home village.
On Tuesday, a government minister stated that the burial was still planned for Sunday, but the site would only be known once the body arrived and government officials consulted with the family.
