National Heroes Acre belongs to Zanu (PF) – Mugabe

Mugabe was speaking at the burial of Kumbirai Kangai as he poured scorn on calls for Zimbabweans from all walks of life to be buried at the shrine.

“There are some places where only those who have done one, two and three (things) can go to. Only those who have followed the Zanu (PF) way of sacrifice (can be buried at the National Heroes Acre),” Mugabe said.

He proceeded to mock Morgan Tsvangirai who he said should find his own place to bury his heroes.

“There are many anthills. Choose your own, we paid for this place, it’s for own our heroes. You and your grasshoppers won’t come here, no!” Mugabe said.

He however called on his supporters to live amicably with followers of other parties. “Even those who don’t support our party, we share with them what we have,” he said.

This marked a departure from his earlier speech at the same shrine when he told Harare and Bulawayo voters to seek salvation from MDC-T for voting that party.

In a long and winding speech, Mugabe gave a monologue of the liberation struggle and touched on some of the things that happened in what some historians have called “the struggle within the struggle”.

He went on to defend the conduct of the July 31 elections saying they were better than any elections Britain had ever conducted. “They criticise our election which was perfect. Even the British have never had an election that perfect,” he said.

Mugabe once again turned his guns on former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, whom he said ignored an agreement between his country and Zimbabwe to fund the latter’s land reform programme.

The outgoing Home Affairs Co-Minister, Kembo Mohadi, talking at the same occasion, said the country was losing its generation of revolutionaries.

“The constituency of revolutionaries is diminishing and diminishing very fast,” Mohadi said. Mugabe was at the burial without his wife, Grace who usually accompanies him at such events.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara was at the burial.