Robert Mugabe’s family say they are shocked at not having been consulted by the government about arrangements for the funeral of the former Zimbabwean president.
Mr Mugabe, who was 95, died last week while undergoing medical treatment in a Singapore hospital.
His body is being prepared to lie in state at a football stadium in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.
His family and the government disagree over Mr Mugabe’s final resting place.
Mr Mugabe’s family says his body will be displayed in his home village of Kutama on Sunday night, and will be buried at a private ceremony.
“His body will lie in state at Kutama on Sunday night… followed by a private burial – either Monday or Tuesday – no National Heroes’ Acre [the national monument for liberation heroes]. That’s the decision of the whole family,” his nephew Leo Mugabe told the AFP news agency.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa had declared Mr Mugabe a national hero after his death, indicating he should be buried at the national monument.
In a statement, the Mugabe family said it was extremely concerned over the way the authorities had made funeral plans “without consulting his immediate family who were tasked with communicating his last wishes in regard to his funeral and burial”.
“We have also observed with shock that the government of Zimbabwe is attempting to coerce us to accept a programme for the funeral and burial of the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe which is contrary to his wishes on how he wished to have his mortal remains interred.”
