Contrary to expectations of many, Robert Mugabe's state funeral perhaps reflected his controversial figure in latter years than his revolutionary formative years.
Before he was ousted in 2017 by the army, Mugabe was popular among the rural Zimbabweans but controversial in urban regions where he faced stiff opposition.
The National Stadium in Harare was not even one-third full despite being 60,000 seater, an indication that many decided to snub him based on his dictatorial approach in latter years.
Many Zimbabweans said they would shun the ceremony because of the repression that marked Mr Mugabe's later rule.
The country's economy is in crisis, with soaring inflation and unemployment, and some blame this on the former leader.
"We are happier now that he is gone. Why should I go to his funeral? I don't have fuel," a Harare resident told AFP. "We don't want to hear anything about him anymore. He is the cause of our problems."
The public tributes to Mugabe's role as a liberation hero - paid by a succession of speakers including Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta - came in sharp contrast to the final words of the Mugabe family's own representative, Walter Chidhakwa, whose voice cracked as he spoke of his uncle's final years after he'd been removed from office.
"He was a sad man. A sad, sad, sad man. It was a hard and excruciating journey."
Uhuru, one of few visiting Presidents, mourned him as a true liberation hero, adding that he stood for the common good of African people.
“The late Comrade Mugabe was an embodiment of the Pan-African spirit, offering immeasurable assistance and solidarity to many other African countries in their struggles to end colonial rule and apartheid,” the President said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa described the late Mugabe as a revolutionary leader, a patriot and a nationalist who believed in Pan-Africanism that put empowerment of the people ahead of all other partisan interests.
“Today Southern Africa mourns the sad loss of a frontliner, today Africa weeps, grieving over the loss of a true pan-African.
"Our motherland is in tears, our region is in grief and our continent is in sorrow, above all a family is stricken and in deep sorrow," President Mnangagwa mourned his predecessor.