BULAWAYO – Chief Marupi’s death in Harare on Sunday has triggered a feud between his family and the local councillor who drove him to the capital, allegedly without their knowledge.

The 28-year-old chief from Dibilashaba in Gwanda South, real name Oaheng Nare, died at Health Point Hospital in Harare after being admitted while complaining of a tummy ache and vomiting.

His death came just two weeks after armed robbers raided his rural home and stole his official Isuzu vehicle. He was unharmed in that incident, but his family now fears the robbery and his death so soon after are connected.

The family’s fury has been directed at Mphathiswa Ncube, the local Zanu PF councillor and chairman of the Gwanda Rural District Council who was the last person to see the chief alive after driving him to the capital, supposedly to seek medical treatment. The family wonders why the treatment could not be found at hospitals in Bulawayo.

Molisa Nare, a local headman and relative of the late chief, said: “We’re still in a state of confusion about his death because before he is taken to Harare he was complaining of a headache. Now we’re being told in Harare he had an upset stomach.

“The whole thing is difficult to understand. We hope the postmortem will shed some light.”

Angelina Marupi Moyo, the late chief’s aunt, said Chief Marupi’s trip to Harare was shrouded in mystery.

She told local community radio station Ntepe-Manama FM: “His departure from home for Harare is something we’re still trying to understand. Another thing is that we knew him to be having a headache and the new narrative from the hospital that he was vomiting and had a runny tummy adds to our confusion.

“We’re in pain over what has befallen us.”

Ncube told ZimLive he would have something to say only after the burial.

“I’m sorry, for now I’m not in a position to comment. I will comment after the burial,” he said.

The chief’s body was expected to leave Harare on Friday with burial likely on Sunday, family spokesman Chris Marupi said.

A family source told ZimLive that they were also curious over the role of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son-in-law, the lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa, in the chief’s trip to Harare.

The source said: “We understand he paid everything, including the hospital bill. The question is why?”

Mlotshwa is reported to have met the chief several times in recent months while seeking his signature in his bid to take-over the safari section of the 55,000-hectare Doddieburn Ranch, which is in Chief Marupi’s jurisdiction. Cecilia Bhebhe, the owner of Motsamai lodges, currently holds the lease for the ranch.

Questions left for Mlotshwa had not been answered.

Chief Marupi, one of the youngest traditional leaders in the country at the time of his death, was “receptive to advice and humble,” according to stand-in chief of the nearby Garanyemba chieftaincy Jefrey Ndlovu-Nhlamba.

“He prioritised traditional cultural practices as his role demanded. As the people of Gwanda, we have all been robbed of a good man who had no quarrel with anyone,” Ndlovu-Nhlamba said.