Two ZANU PF members aspiring to be councillors in Chinhoyi took their feud to the funeral of a party member, forcing the corpse’s burial with two coffins.
Stuart Yasini and his rival, Ruth Chikukwa, for the Chinhoyi Ward 2 Council seat clashed over the burial of Stella Makaki, of Gadzema suburb, another ZANU PF member on Wednesday.
Reports indicate that Yasini engaged a funeral services provider to give Makaki a decent burial but his gesture was not well-received by Chikukwa.
Chikukwa, popularly known as Boko Haram in Chinhoyi, was a niece to the now-deceased Makaki.
Yasini, Chikukwa and the late Stella’s father Muriravanhu Makaki are set to contest in the upcoming ZANU PF primary elections to choose a candidate to run for councillor.
NewZimbabwe.com reported sources as saying Yasini heeded a distress call from the Makaki family, which was unable to meet the costs involved in giving Stella a befitting send-off.
He reportedly paid a local funeral parlour US$330 for its services, which included a coffin, and hearse and bought food and beverages for the mourners.
However, Yasini’s competitor, Chikukwa, allegedly arrived at the funeral with her bouncers and condemned the quality of the coffin, describing it as a “fish” coffin.
She then mobilised her team and proceeded to another funeral parlour in Chinhoyi town where they bought a “better” coffin, before returning to the funeral.
On their return, Chikukwa allegedly ordered the removal of the corpse from the coffin bought by Yasini into the “better” one she had paid for.
Chikukwa and her gang, immediately destroyed the coffin bought by Yasini, before taking the coffin’s debris to the cemetery where they threw broken pieces into the grave.
The development has left Chinhoyi’s Gadzema community gobsmacked.
When contacted for comment on Thursday, Chikukwa insisted she was related to the late Makaki and therefore deserved to be part of the decision-makers. She said:
“The late Stella was a daughter of my biological mother’s brother. I am a relative, whether he likes it or not and we were supposed to be consulted over materials bought at the funeral, including the coffin.
“Yasini connived, behind our back, with supposed sons-in-law and went to a parlour where they bought a cheap coffin which the family condemned.”
She, however, denied ever destroying the coffin bought by Yasini, insisting the parlour personnel broke it.
The Chinhoyi Ward 2 Council seat fell vacant following the recall of MDC Alliance’s Patricia Chibaya, last December.
By-elections are also scheduled to be held in five other wards in Chinhoyi.
