Andrew
Emmanuel Kafe recently in NYANGA
Before last month, nobody knew about the life and story of Maxwell Chimwamurombe.
However, the jaw-dropping account about how the family of the 59-year-old former soldier, who unfortunately passed away in March, buried an empty coffin in Nyanga while his body lay at Doves Funeral Services’ parlour in Harare has captured the imagination of the nation, and left many asking questions of how this apparent embarrassing mix-up could have happened.
The fact that his body was kept from March to August before it was allegedly given a pauper’s burial at Granville Cemetery in Harare has raised some eyebrows.
With so many unanswered questions, The Sunday Mail last week travelled to the Chimwamurombe homestead in Matoropoto Village in Nyanga to try and unravel the puzzle.
It is in this village that Maxwell died in March after drowning in Nyamuzizi River.
His decomposing body was found two days later.
His siblings, Memory and Brian, agonisingly recounted the family’s ordeal.
According to Memory, who was the policyholder at Doves, Maxwell was a man of sober habits, who, however, suffered periodic bouts of mental illness.
“He was helpful at the homestead. He was always tilling the land and did all the manly household chores. On occasion, he would suffer from bouts of mental challenges, but he was never violent,” said the grief-stricken sister.
“He would just leave home when he was unwell. We never thought he would meet his death in such a way, because physically, he was quite strong.”
She said Maxwell’s death was jarring for the family.
“After he died, we knew that things would never be the same. However, we were at peace knowing that we had laid him to rest. So to realise that he was not properly buried really hit us hard. Imagine the feeling of knowing that we were keeping an empty grave,” she said, as tiny beads of tears rolled down her cheek.
Suspicion
Brian Chimwamurombe, who was dressed in a mournful black colour, indicated that, with hindsight ,something seemed off when the coffin was collected for burial.
After the post-mortem was completed at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, the family was duly called in by police to identify the body before it was surrendered to the funeral parlour.
“We identified the body and proceeded to Doves and signed all the papers, and they asked us to choose a coffin. They came back to notify us that they were now dressing the body. We gave them a blanket and a T-shirt but they returned moments later saying the body was in bad shape and they gave us back the blanket.”
Unbeknown to them, the coffin that was subsequently released was empty.
At the time of his death, the country was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and tightened health guidelines and protocols meant the family had to forgo the traditional body-viewing ceremony.
When the coffin was carried by pall bearers for burial, one of them remarked about how light it felt.
“To think of it, one of our neighbour’s friends was suspicious of the weight of the coffin, but when he raised this point, the mourners dismissed him, as they assumed that he was drunk,” Brian said.
As the saga drags on, the double grief that now confronts the family as they seek closure is equally being felt by the community.
Headman Mr Knowledge Gohoto said if proper reburial rites are not performed, Maxwell’s spirit may come to haunt those responsible for making a mess of the burial.
“The family needs to be compensated because they had been keeping an empty grave for more than six months,” he said.
In an unexpected turn of events, the family and Doves seemed to have smoked the peace pipe.
A statement from Chiturumani Zvavanoda Law Chambers, which is representing the family, said the parties have decided to work together to bring the troubling matter to finality.
“Both parties have realised that there is need to scientifically establish the truth regarding the burial of the deceased and correct any findings of impropriety arising out of the burial process.”
The lawyers said the agreed process will include exhuming the graves concerned in line with the law, identifying any remains recovered through DNA tests or other means and “reburial of the deceased if necessary”.
Doves spokesperson Mr Innocent Chuma confirmed the agreement.
“I can confirm that the contents of the letter are what we have agreed in full with the family. We are now working together cordially to conclude this issue.”
The two parties said they had agreed to retract their previous correspondences and statements published against each other.
“For the avoidance of doubt and being specific, the Chimwamurombe family hereby retract and withdraws from the public and reverses the allegations contained in the letter concerning the burial authored by Chimwamurombe Legal Practice dated October 26, 2021 and addressed to Doves Holdings.
“Similarly, Doves Funeral Services Pvt Ltd hereby retract, withdraws
and reverses the allegations contained in the letter authored by Mutangamira and Associates Legal Practitioners dated October 28, 2021 and addressed to Messrs Chimwamurombe Legal Practice,” reads part of the statement.
Furthermore, they agreed that no party shall institute criminal proceedings or civil claims against each other.
For the family, all they want is to give their relative a decent burial.
During his life, Maxwell kept to himself and neither married nor had children.
Online Reporter