Chronicle Editor
Esinathy Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
CHAOTIC scenes rocked the burial of MDC Alliance Ward 28 Councillor Hapson Ncube in Bulawayo yesterday with party members taking the deceased’s body to former councillor Collet Ndlovu’s business premises chanting slogans denouncing him.
The party supporters, clad in party regalia, also sang songs at the business premises in Cowdray Park suggesting that Ncube, who died on Sunday at a Bulawayo hospital at the age of 34, was killed through witchcraft.
The supporters, mostly made up of members of the party’s youth, passed through the business premises enroute Bulawayo Amphitheatre where a service was held before burial at Lady Stanley Cemetery.
The crowd chanted slogans denigrating Mr Ndlovu, saying “Phansi ngo Collet, phansi (down with Collet)” before breaking into song, “Ndiwe wakauraya pahukama, hazvina mhosva pahukama.”
The song is one of the funeral laments sung when mourners suspect foul play on the cause of the death.
The drama attracted a large crowd, some who captured the fiasco with their mobile phones with videos of the incident spreading on a number of social media platforms.
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The youths, who had doubled in number, were to sing the song again at the Amphitheatre during the service that was punctuated by singing and heckling.
Addressing mourners, the party’s provincial youth chairperson Clr Mlandu Ncube urged party members to desist from killing each other, to the applause and whistling from the audience.
“As the Bulawayo MDC Youth Assembly and the Zimbabwean young people we feel so much reduced and robbed. It came to us as a surprise today to note that one of our kingpins in the assembly has gone to the new land of peace, we say rest in peace our fighter,” he said, sobbing.
The chaos continued unabated for the entire programme with MDC Alliance vice president Professor Welshman Ncube being interjected by some youths who shouted, “ulamanga wena” as he was giving his address.
Some of the mourners slammed the riotous supporters for their unbecoming behaviour.
One of them said this kind of conduct was not unique in the party’s youth assembly.
“MDC is known for disrespect. They create chaos everywhere. They are attention seekers. We cannot have an MDC gathering without rascal individuals. At the late Morgan Tsvangirai’s funeral they went all out to embarrass. This is just another case to the list,” said the mourner.
Another said MDC should learn to separate their in-house disorder and important events such as funerals.
— @esinathy_essira
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