The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THE late Birchenough Bridge’s diamond dealer, Samuel Makaripe’s funeral wake degenerated into a public display of obscenity and thuggery, with scores of mourners falling on each other’s feet to pick the money that was being thrown into the air by the deceased’s acquaintances.
Makaripe died on Monday last week after a short illness following a visit to his second wife and there were two funeral wakes for him at his wives’ houses.
As vulgar songs were belted out, some mourners got down to sexually suggestive dances in full glare of fellow relatives and friends who had travelled from different parts of the country to bid farewell to the popular dealer.
During the trip to and from the Birchenough Bridge Cemetery on Saturday, foul language reigned supreme. On the way to Makaripe’s final resting place, mourners forcibly seized the coffin from the hearse and placed it in a relative’s vehicle.
There were no church representatives and no religious rites were observed during burial. In fact, not even body viewing or any other graveside rituals were conducted even though Makaripe was not a Covid-19 victim.
His body was interred minutes after arrival at the cemetery while mourners continued chanting obscenities and dancing.
Mourners with the coffin that they had seized from the hearse
All this irked some of Makaripe’s relatives who viewed the actions as being disrespectful.
Makaripe’s nephew and Mutare businessman, Charles Chave was not impressed: “As relatives, we were not amused with the other mourners’ rowdy behaviour during the funeral. We were paying our last respects to our beloved relative, but some people thought otherwise. Some of the behaviour we witnessed was unacceptable.”
Ironically, while money was being thrown around by fellow diamond dealers, mourners at the funeral were starving as the late popular dealer had fallen on hard times in recent months.
Makaripe’s close friend who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “This was a lesson to all of us to prepare for any eventuality. It is sad that some of his friends saw it fit to throw money in the air when Makaripe died almost a pauper. This is really sad. People need to know that money should not be abused like that.”
