As dramatic as it sounds, the family of the former Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe has said his bitter spirit is fighting from the grave following the report of the death of a Chief and that those who allegedly pushed for the exhumation and reburial of Mugabe’s body are not feeling well.

It would be recalled Mugabe died in September 2019 and his remains were buried at his rural home in Kutama, Zvimba, after his family indicated that he wished to be laid to rest there.

However, this led to a face-off with a group of Chiefs who questioned the decision.

Chief of Zvimba, Alfred Tome also known as Chief Beperere had ordered Grace, Mugabe’s widow, to ensure that the former Statesman’s remains were exhumed and reburied in Harare.

However, Chief Beperere got infected with COVID-19 while in the process of preparing to exhume the remains of Mugabe and was buried at his farm in Raffingora.

Following his death, Mugabe’s family celebrated as Chief Beperere had insisted on the exhumation of the former ruler and that he be reburied at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.

According to Mugabe’s family member, Dominic Matibiri, the Mugabe ancestral spirits were angered by calls for the exhumation of his body from the family homestead in Zvimba communal lands.

Matibiri warned the other remaining chiefs – Chief Zvimba, Chief Seremani and Chief Chidziva – who presided over the matter that they will die one after the other as the avenging spirit strikes back.

Following Chief Beperere’s death, the family now claims he was a victim of Mugabe’s vengeful spirit.

Beperere’s son Edward, who was spokesperson for the Zvimba chiefs when they met President Emmerson Mnangagwa in September last year, is now allegedly afflicted by an undisclosed ailment.

One of Edward’s sons is also said to be sick, while Chief Zvimba and Chidziva are reportedly now bed-ridden. Tinos Manongovere, the headman who took Grace Mugabe to the traditional court demanding Mugabe’s burial, blamed Chief Zvimba’s woes on old age.

Manongovere said, “There is nothing amiss about his ill health. Remember he is advanced in age. At more than 80 years old you can’t expect him to be running up and down like a teenager.”

However, Matibiri maintained that the former President’s spirit is “settling issues with the living”.

Matibiri said, “The spirit of the departed has a way of settling issues with the living. As Mugabe family, we will not mourn Chief Beperere with others because we feel that he was being punished by the avenging spirit for taking part in the ex- humation judgement.”