GOVT MUM OVER HEROES’ REMAINS RECEPTION AS CLAIMS GROW THEY ALREADY LANDED
HARARE – Government was forced to deny it had planned a state reception for ancestral remains from the United Kingdom, after social media claims that the remains had already secretly arrived in Harare.
The denial came after a draft programme circulated on Sunday showing President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other senior leaders scheduled to receive the remains at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport at 5:15 PM.
Permanent Secretary for Information, Nick Mangwana, dismissed the programme.
“This serves to confirm that no such programme appears in the Government Diary,” Mangwana said.
But the denial has only deepened the confusion.
By early Monday, government had still not confirmed whether the remains had arrived, how many were received, or where they are being kept – despite Mangwana having confirmed last week that human remains were en route from the UK.
Social media reports claimed the remains landed at 08:00 on Sunday aboard an Air Zimbabwe flight and were received by National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe officials.
The claims, which Mopane News could not independently verify, said the cargo contained “more than 10 heads, 2 bodies, and unidentified bones” now allegedly secured at the National Museum in Harare.
Government has refused to confirm their identities.
Public expectation is that the remains are those of First Chimurenga leaders Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, but the Natural History Museum in London said in 2022 that archival research found no evidence linking the remains in its care to specific named leaders.
Officials say once any remains are returned, they will undergo DNA testing and consultations with chiefs and traditional leaders before reburial.