380 graves desecrated, remains dumped 

RESIDENTS near Restland Memorial Park in Harare’s Rainham suburb are in shock after allegations emerged that the cemetery’s owner collaborated with grave diggers to run a burial space scam. 

The scheme reportedly involved exhuming nearly 380 corpses, dumping them in a dam trench, and reselling the graves.

The issue came to light following the arrest of Tinashe Chiguma, who claimed to have experienced visions of dead people seeking information about their relatives. 

Investigations revealed that Edwin Muronzi, the cemetery owner, employed grave diggers, including suspects presently on the run. 

Muronzi allegedly paid these diggers between US$15 and US$20 per grave.

According to police, Muronzi instructed the grave diggers to make room for new burials. 

During this process, they encountered human skeletal remains, which they packed into empty cement bags, wrapped in burial clothing, and disposed of them in a trench or dam behind the cemetery.

When The Herald visited the gravesite yesterday, it was bustling with activity as relatives of the deceased sought to verify the integrity of their loved ones’ graves. 

A Criminal Investigation Department team was present to conduct further investigations and escort families checking on the graves. 

However, the news crew was unable to interview relatives, as investigators asserted they had temporarily taken control of the graveyard to conduct their inquiries without interference.

After this setback, The Herald visited the dam behind the cemetery, where skeletal remains were allegedly dumped. 

Along the way, the crew encountered an elderly woman weeding her field near the dam. 

Although she refused to speak on camera for safety reasons, she expressed her shock at the news, saying, “I learned about this via social media, and it’s very sad that we’ve been eating fish from this dam while these criminals used it as a dumpsite.”

She recalled a peculiar incident involving a large white sack near the dam that emitted a foul smell during the rainy season, which she now suspects may have contained human remains. 

The woman also said the news had disturbed some of her churchmates, who had recently buried a member in the same graveyard. 

She recounted an incident from two years ago when relatives were asked to exhume their loved ones’ remains due to alleged land encroachment, suggesting that this may have emboldened others to engage in similar activities.

Just a stone’s throw away from her field, local fishmongers continued their trade. 

One fisherman, casting his net, remarked: “I have heard the rumours, but I have never seen a human skeleton. Maybe they were dumped in one of the other dams in the area.” 

Another fisherman, using a rod, stated, “It would not stop me from fishing.”

Observations revealed that the area is largely non-residential, featuring scattered houses, brick kilns, maize fields, an apostolic church, and fishing spots. Grave prices allegedly ranged between US$200 and US$500, with the scam primarily targeting areas with cheaper graves. 

When The Herald returned to the graveyard, investigators were still on-site conducting research.

An official from Restland Memorial Park, who had just returned from police custody, mentioned that her boss and other team members remained detained. Chiguma, the accused, had previously told our sister paper, Kwayedza, that he was instructed to exhume graves at night due to limited burial space. 

“I was instructed to exhume graves at night, around 10pm or 11pm, and I would secretly gather the skeletons. 

“Sometimes, I would cut the dead bodies into pieces and collect the remains in a sack to dump them in the dam or a trench,” Chiguma confessed, claiming to have exhumed over 40 bodies in the past five years.

The situation escalated dramatically when he exhumed the body of a traditional healer. 

Chiguma claimed the healer’s spirit attacked him, leaving his hand oozing blood. 

“I no longer have peace due to the deceased’s spirits haunting me,” he said before his arrest.

National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed to The Herald that they have enlisted the CID Homicide and the Department of Forensic Science to track down three additional suspects currently at large, identified only as Kevy, Shumba, and Dread.