SINGAPORE – The body of Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe left Singapore on Wednesday, said his nephew Adam Molai.

A hearse transporting Mugabe’s body left the Singapore Casket funeral parlour bound for an airport and accompanied by a police escort.

A plane carrying the former leader and the visiting delegation led by Vice President Kembo Mohadi departed shortly afterwards, Molai told AFP.

“It just left now,” he said by phone from the plane as it took off, with the noise of the aircraft audible in the background.

The body is expected in Zimbabwe shortly after 3PM on Wednesday.

Relatives and government officials attended a mass for the former leader on Tuesday at the funeral parlour where his body was being preserved following his death on September 6.

Officiated by a Zimbabwean priest, the mass was attended by officials including Vice President Kembo Mohadi.

The mood at the service was “sombre, everybody is sad”, said Molai.

“I will always remember the immense, immense contribution he made not only to the people of Zimbabwe but to the people of Africa,” he said.

Asked whether Mugabe had been bitter about being ousted, he said: “Everybody is human. When you go through an experience of that sort, of course you feel pain.”

Mourning … Robert Mugabe’s first born daughter Bona leaves a funeral parlour in Singapore following a church service on Tuesday
Grieving … Robert Mugabe’s widow, Grace, covers herself with a blanket as she leaves a funeral parlour in Singapore where a service was held for the late former Zimbabwe president
Grim mission … Vice President Kembo Mohadi and members of his delegation in Singapore on Tuesday

A guerrilla leader who swept to power after Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain, he went on to rule for 37 years until he was ousted in 2017.

His health deteriorated after he was toppled by the military and former loyalists, ending an increasingly tyrannical rule that sent the economy into ruin.

Zimbabweans have been divided over how to mourn a former leader once hailed as a liberation hero but who later brutally repressed his opponents.

On arrival in Zimbabwe, Mugabe’s body is expected to be taken to One Commando army barracks, although the family is said to be intensely opposed.

On Thursday and Friday, the body will lie in state at Rufaro Stadium in Mbare township in Harare – where Mugabe took his oath of office – for the public to pay their final respects.

The official funeral will be held on Saturday at the giant 60,000-seat National Sports Stadium in Harare and foreign leaders are expected to attend.

The location of the burial remains unclear, with Mugabe’s family and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government apparently at odds over whether it would be at his homestead 85km northwest of Harare or at a shrine for liberation heroes in the capital.- AFP