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ZIMBABWE GAVE FORMER leader Robert Mugabe a state funeral today with African leaders paying tribute to a man they lauded as a liberation hero but whose 37-year rule was defined by repression and economic turmoil.
Mugabe, who died in Singapore last week aged 95, left Zimbabwe deeply divided over his legacy with his country still struggling with high inflation and shortages of goods after decades of crisis.
He died on an overseas medical trip almost two years after former army loyalists forced him out in 2017, following a power struggle over what was widely perceived as a bid to position his wife Grace as his successor.
Former and current African leaders, including South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, arrived to crowds chanting and drumming liberation songs at the less than half-filled 60,000-seat national stadium in Harare.
Mugabe’s casket, draped in the green, black, gold and red Zimbabwe flag, was marched slowly into the stadium, accompanied by a military band and an escort of officers. His wife Grace, in a black veil, and family followed behind.
African leaders and officials from Cuba, Russia and China all praised Mugabe as a pan-African hero for his past as a colonial-era guerrilla leader.
“We honour and remember our African icon. He had many allies and followers… Our motherland is in tears,” Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa said.
South African leader Ramaphosa’s speech was briefly interrupted by jeers and whistles from the crowds until he apologised for recent xenophobic attacks on African migrants, including Zimbabweans, in Johannesburg.
Mugabe’s final burial at a national monument will only happen after a new mausoleum is built in about 30 days. That decision was taken after his family ended a dispute with Mnangagwa, a former ally who turned against his rule in 2017.
Mugabe’s body was returned from Singapore on Wednesday to a country he helped found as an anti-colonial rebel who helped end white-minority rule.
Later, Mugabe turned to repression and fear to crush dissidents and govern for nearly four decades during which he become an international pariah for his takeover of white-owned farms.
“You can’t talk about Zimbabwe without Bob. Zimbabwe is Bob. It took a man like Bob, his bravery, to get independence,” said Norman Gombera, 57, a school principal in Harare. “Bob did his best under the circumstances. There is no country without a problem.”
Bitter legacy
A young Mugabe was once jailed in the former British colony Rhodesia for his nationalist ideas. But he swept to power in the 1980 elections after a guerrilla war and sanctions forced the Rhodesian government to the negotiating table.
Though still lauded as an African icon, at home many Zimbabweans will remember Mugabe more for the increasingly tyrannical rule and economic mismanagement that forced millions to flee the country during decades of crisis.
Many are struggling to survive despite Mnangagwa’s vows of more investment and jobs in the post-Mugabe era.
“The fruits of his tenure are the shortages. That is what we remember him for,” said Steven, a consultant shopping near the stadium.
“He has made sure there is no opposition and he succeeded. There is no reason to go to his funeral.”
Mugabe’s funeral arrangements were caught up in a dispute between Mnangagwa and the family over where and when the former leader should be buried.
The two parties yesterday finally agreed he should lie at National Heroes Acre monument. But the final ceremony would take place in about 30 days, once the new mausoleum was built for him there.
The “heroes” monument, where more than 130 national figures are buried in black marble tombs, sits on a hilltop overlooking Harare. Mugabe’s first wife, Sally, is also buried there.
His family are still bitter over the role Mnangagwa played in his ouster and had pushed for Mugabe to be buried in his homestead of Zvimba, northwest of Harare.
A former guerrilla who fought alongside Mugabe against colonial forces, Mnangagwa was fired as first vice president by Mugabe in 2017. Mugabe had branded him a “traitor”.
Soon after, protesters took to the streets and military officers pressured Mugabe to step down in what was widely seen as a struggle between Mnangagwa’s faction and loyalists to Mugabe’s wife Grace inside the ruling ZANU-PF party.
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Hows that going to work. The child minder thats takes cash only and pays no tax ????
Should be done through tax, anyone working needs childminders in some shape or form.
(Through paye of the working parent/s) through the months of July and August it should be doubled.
many claim the dole too.
It would be more in Ms. Zappone’s line to explore ways to stop the corporations dodging their taxes instead of facilitating them as she did in the Apple case with the €19 billion outstanding. That sum would cover a generation of childcare for the country,
@Kieran Mcnamee:@Kieran Mcnamee: Voluntarily notifified childminders are qualified, Garda vetted, first aid trained, registered with the county council and tax compliant. Our child ratios are capped at a maximum of 3 and our income is capped at €15k. We are hardly millionaires! Yet unfortunately we have been excluded from this scheme. We would welcome inspections that are appropriate to a home environment rather than a creche…
If both parents of the children are in work full time, give them the tax credit of 900. Problem solved.
@anto curran. Why make something simple when you can make it very complicated. How else can these spoofers appear like they’re actually doing something.
Not really as you would only be saving / getting 190 quid a year, not 900 as it would be taxed at the 21%.
So increase that to 4K tax credit for each child under 15.
To be more exact (give or take a couple of euro) a tax credit of 4300 would be needed.
4300 taxed at 21% is 903 euro.
So a 900 tax credit isn’t worth much at all!!!!
@Anto Curran: I see no problem with it being there if only one parent is working too.
Lily, you’re confusing a tax allowance with a tax credit. A tax allowance works like you say. But a tax credit is a straight deduction from your tax bill, so 900 euros is worth 900 euros as long as you’ve paid at least 900 euros in tax.
Not everyone pays tax. My husband is on minimum wage and he has my tax free allowance. He hasn’t paid tax in years
And do you pay tax?
@Frank’s Cat: tax measures favour parents earning more. Students, people who were on the dole but got work towards the end of the tax year etc would not benefit.
Children are better off being looked after by a parent. Either parent.
Failing that a granny.
I don’t care what training or certificates a childminder has, a child is much better off in the security of their own home with their own family, accompanying granny for a walk or to the shops.
In a crèche with 15 other kids is never the answer. They simply won’t get the attention or stimulation.
I appreciate it’s difficult for most people but we need to redesign society and take a long hard look at how we do things. One parent should put their career on hold for a few years to do the more important work of looking after the kids.
I career and identity (whatever that is) is more important then go ahead. Many kids will be fine but some need more attention than others.
A crèche simply doesn’t provide that.
It does provide socialisation however, Tom. Montessori also teaches kiddies pre school curriculum and makes entry into school a lot easier.
Socialisation?
10 kids in a corner?
A child trying to nap when another is crying?
Pre school curriculum?
No need.
They will learn when they go to school, no rush.
They learn nothing granny can’t teach them.
Socialisation is the thing the guilty mother tries to.console themselves with.
You know ‘she’s really happy in there because she gets to meet so many kids”
Tom, have you been to a crèche recently?! 10 kids in a corner?!
As to pre school curriculum, actually it’s really good for kids to learn early. Montessori is a very well established and acknowledged way of teaching.
I wonder why you feel a parent (though I note you said mother) would feel guilty?
I also said above that a child should be looked after by either parent.
I think it’s a no brainer.
A kid is best at home.
At home doesn’t mean they never see another kid but kids need peace too.
Getting dropped at a crèche at 8am to be collected at 5.30pm is not good.
For get the learning.
Where’s the peace, fresh air, walks in the park, feeding the ducks, trip to the shops?
Far more important than the alphabet, believe me.
And granny, Tom, no mention of grandad.
You’re falling into the trap of stereotypical comments; who says every child is dropped off early and picked up late?
There can be plenty of time for walks and picnics and football and baking and playing. My little one is at home with me, I love it, I’m also very lucky and I know it. But he is also and will be an only child. He needed time with other kiddies which wasn’t easily available, spent 3 hours a day ecce year in Creche and adored it. He was looked after by a lovely team of staff for those hours and between time at home and time there, it was a very holistic year.
We need to be realistic here. Children attend Creche, there’s no point in looking for the clock to go back, it won’t.
If the clock won’t go back that’s fine.
I’m just stating the obvious.
As for granny grandad, who cares?
You’re trying to read something that ain’t there.
Not really Tom, you’re harking back to a time of long ago. While I agree things need to change going back to the past isnt necessarily the right way. There are many parents who chose to work outside the home as well as those who must. Neither is wrong.
As to the gender, ah now Tom, you’re a man who chooses his words carefully!!
@Tom Burke: You forgot stories, learning about nature etc but I fully agree with you.
@Tom Burke: voluntarily registered childminders are often stay at home parents who create their own employment, mind their own children and enable parents who choose to or have to work outside the home to do so. We are also above board and tax compliant – yet we are excluded from this scheme.
This is just gas.
“the person that prepares the food for the children, cannot be the same person that changes the nappies.”
Don’t let the wife hear about this…trouble ahead
@Wurps: Stay at home parents should be given full dole but not need to seek work. Anybody who is earning € 200 a week and paying somebody € 200 a week to mind their kids is not fit to be a parent. This is a sham by all accounts and we will be expected to fund conception grants if we don’t start to make people look after their own kids, note I did say they should get full dole for it. It won’t be long before every sharia lover in Europe hears about this.
The Minister for Children who thinks abortion isn’t widely available enough.
U ok?
Romeo you need a nice scented cold towel to wrap around your head?
If you are an unregistered child minder and you fall for this trick…
Katherine exploring ways to bring …… nah, sounds too paly paly to me.
I’m just pointing out that the Minister for Children thinks abortion should be freely available. In the UK where abortion is freely available, 90% of Downs babies are aborted.
Of those not destroyed, over 80% learn to read and write.
What gives Minister Zappone the right to zap life?
“60% of the time it works…Every time.”
Do you scan every story to figure out a way to squeeze the word “abortion” into the comment. Is it like some kind of Catholic tourettes. How do you cope in a restaurant? ” I’ll have a the steak. Medium-well. ABORTION! And a glass of cabernet, please. NOT YOUR UTERUS! And is the desert included in the set menu?”
What are you talking about? I never mentioned the word.
Ooooh kaaaay. [backs away slowly]
This is nonsense.
Bench warrant issued for arrest of Clare Daly over speeding offence. That’s what you get for asking the hard questions!
That’s what you get for disrespecting the court and speeding. Playing the victim card won’t wash
Tis quare when a lesbian is minister for children
@Tom Burke. Of course a child is always best looked after at homecwith a parent. However this is not possible for most families. There are pros and cons to sending your child to a creche. As a childminder who is voluntarily notified with my loxal childcare comittee, a member of Childminding Ireland, registered for tax, First aid trained, Insured , undergone child protection training and Level 5 Fetac Childcatre wualification I try to provide the best of both home environment and creche as do many voluntarily notified childminders like myself. I am a mum myself. I treat the children in my care s if they were my own. I cuddle them if they are upset or sick. I take them for walks, I take them to the park. I paint with them, bake with them. We pkay outside and go on nature walks. I have an abundance of toys and books. They never watch tv in my care. The children are happy and the parents trust me to care for their kids. I see how hard it is for parents to leave their babies while they go to work. I know as I done it with my own son for 3 yrs. Parents should not be shamed or judged for going out to work.
#neveragain will trust independent politician like you her #betrayed
Strange how Ends entrusted care of children to a women who thinks most of them should be aborted. You wouldn’t need a budget for childcare if she had her way.
What about more tax credits for working parents? Single working mother or father receive half what a couple receive.
The fair and useful way to help parents and children is to have extra child benefit, as Fianna Fáil did for a bit, for parents of children under six/ Different families used it in different ways, towards a parent staying at home, towards a relative minding, towards a childminder, towards a creche, towards a playgroup for 3 hours a weekday. I agree that 3 and 4 year olds benefit from playgroups for a few hours of social play a day, but not for anything like the full working day of an adult. Kids who sleep for example 12 hours a night can be spending most of each day in an institution if not minded in a home, their own or someone else’s.
The HSE, as part of a service now run by TUSLA, employed or in some areas funded employment of Childminders’ Advisors who supported childminders in providing quality childcare. They recently dropped this. They need to do this again rather than try to push all childminders, several relatives of the children they mind, into an inspection system with rules that never expect a loving, child-led atmosphere.
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