Gokwe burial impasse drags on for 4 years

IT is now four months since the murder of a Gokwe artisanal miner at Zhombe Business Centre, popularly known as Kwa-Juwero under Chief Gwesela, with affected families failing to agree on terms and conditions reportedly set by the family of the deceased who say they are interpreting manifestations of the dead miner.

Meetings to resolve the impasse between the two families over the burial of Munyaradzi Dube, the murdered artisanal miner, have failed to yield positive results.

Dube was killed for ritual purposes by fellow artisanal miners on August 11 in Donzani Village under Chief Samambwa in Zhombe East, Midlands.

According to Chief Njelele, Dube is “refusing to be buried” amid mysterious circumstances generated by his demanding his missing body part back.

The corpse was discovered in a disused mine shaft after a 21-day search and it had a missing tongue, left eye and some hair from the back of the head. The body has been stuck at Kwekwe District Hospital mortuary for the past four months where it was taken by the police from a Muchechetere homestead in Zhombe East where his family had dumped it.

The burial of Dube has been put on hold while families discuss alleged manifestations from beyond the grave.

The deceased’s body spent nine days on the doorstep of one of the suspected assailants before the police ferried it to Kwekwe District Hospital mortuary.

After the postmortem, the deceased’s friend reportedly went into a trance and started behaving like Dube as they were taking the remains to Gokwe for burial.

The warring parties are failing to reach an agreement over Dube’s missing parts as well as the amount of compensation that should be paid to appease his spirit.

Consequently, the body has now spent four months without a proper burial, as alleged instructions from the coffin continue to impede the interment process.

Chief Njelele said there was no end in sight to the impasse.

“Still there is no end in sight with regards to the burial of Munyaradzi. Both families have failed to find common ground and his body is still stuck at Kwekwe District Hospital mortuary,” he said.

Chief Njelele said at one time, there were reports that mortuary attendants were allegedly hearing unusual sounds when the body was taken there.

He said at one time, there were suggestions to have Dube’s body taken to Harare for postmortem and the family allegedly declined.

Chief Samambwa said he was not happy that the warring parties were not genuinely coming to the table to resolve the matter.

“I have been consulted and my advice has not been considered and it’s disappointing. We will wait to hear what the police will say,” he said.

Dube’s maternal grandfather, only identified as Mr Mvurumo said they still stand guided by the deceased’s alleged instructions.

“We can’t and we won’t bury him without his missing body parts. That’s all I can say,” he said.

The grave dug for the miner at Chidoma Village has since been refilled on the instructions of traditional leaders.