Messages From Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe‘s President Robert Mugabe said the car crash that killed Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife was “the hand of God”, speaking at a funeral service on Tuesday.

“It will take him time to recover from this shock. I plead with you to accept it, it’s the hand of God,” Mugabe told hundreds of mourners gathered at a Methodist church in Harare. A raft of senior officials from both the ZANU PF and Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) attended the service.

The remarks were Mugabe’s first public comments on the crash that killed Susan Tsvangirai and injured her husband on Friday.

An oncoming truck slammed into their 4×4 on a potholed highway outside Harare, sending their vehicle flipping off the road. She died instantly and Tsvangirai suffered minor injuries. He was briefly hospitalised in Harare and flew over the weekend for further medical checks in Botswana, but quickly returned home to prepare the funeral.

Mugabe and his wife Grace visited Tsvangirai in hospital shortly after the collision, which had sparked speculation that the crash was linked to a long history of political leaders dying in suspicious accidents.

But Tsvangirai has sought to dispel fears the accident could have been linked to a long history of deadly political trickery in Zimbabwe, ruling out any foul play in her death.

“It was an accident and unfortunately it took her life,” he told mourners gathered at his home on Monday.

“I want to thank God for giving me 31 years with my wife,” he said.

“Life will go on, and I am certain she would have liked life to go on.”

Mugabe, whose supporters staged deadly attacks against Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) around last year’s elections, said on Tuesday it was time for Zimbabwe to move past the violence.

“We are doing our best that we create a conducive environment and tell our supporters that the issue of violence must end,” he said.

“Rest assured we are with you, honourable prime minister. Our hearts on this day and the days to follow, we are with you,” he added.

Susan Tsvangirai’s body would be taken to the couple’s Harare home later on Tuesday, before burial on Wednesday in their hometown Buhera, the MDC said.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a unity government four weeks ago in a bid to end a year of political turmoil and pull the country from economic ruin, but their coalition has been dogged by doubts due to the arrest of a top Tsvangirai aide and disputes over top political appointments.

Hundreds of mourners on Tuesday spilled out the Methodist church in Harare for the funeral service.

An inter-denominational choir sang dirges as the hearse arrived and Tsvangirai, dressed in black, entered the church.

The church service was to be followed by a larger public memorial at a Harare stadium, the same venue where just four weeks ago Tsvangirai was cheered as the new prime minister in the unity government.

The crash and Susan Tsvangirai’s death have overshadowed the new government’s work to rebuild an economy devastated by world-record hyperinflation with more than half the population dependent on foreign food aid for survival.

Susan Tsvangirai (50) generally avoided the political spotlight.

She founded a charity to teach women about AIDS, which has expanded to provide other health and social services in a nation where health care has collapsed.

The MDC is conducting its own investigation into the crash, but has not alleged foul play. Doubts about the incident eased after Washington and London said the truck was owned by a joint US-British aid project that delivers HIV/AIDS drugs.

London has denied that the driver fell asleep at the wheel or had been drinking and said the crash a “genuine accident”.

Still, the accident has overshadowed pressing concerns challenging the new government.

One of Tsvangirai’s top aides, Roy Bennett, was arrested on February 13 as the Cabinet was being sworn in on weapons charges. A judge has granted him bail, but he remains in prison as prosecutors wage a series of appeals.

The Supreme Court was hearing arguments over his bail as the church service was getting underway.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also dispatched a team to Zimbabwe, the first since December 2006, when the southern African country only narrowly avoided expulsion from the organisation.

But the global lender has indicated that it could be willing to work with the new government, and Tsvangirai has said that restoring ties with the IMF are a priority for his government.

Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma said in the state-run Herald newspaper that his talks with the IMF have been “positive”.

“They have told us that they are willing to immediately assist us,” he said in the paper.

(Source)

The lorry driver involved in the road collision that killed Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife, Susan, is due in court.

Chinoona Mwanda, 35, will plead not guilty to a charge of culpable homicide over Friday’s crash, his lawyer said.

Chris Mhike said his client had not been negligent and the poor state of the road was to blame.

Mr Tsvangirai has returned to Zimbabwe to prepare his wife’s funeral after undergoing treatment in Botswana.

“I’m feeling fine,” he told reporters as he left Harare‘s international airport. However, his face remains swollen.

His spokesman said that most of the couple’s six children had also returned to the country, reports the AFP news agency.

Many Zimbabweans are suspicious about 50-year-old Mrs Tsvangirai’s death, given the past acrimony between Mr Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe.

Officials from Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change say they have seen nothing to suggest foul play, however they want to carry out their own investigation of the incident.

Zimbabwe journalist Brian Hungwe says it is hoped the outcome of the driver’s case will lay to rest many unanswered questions.

Mr Mwanda is due to appear at a magistrates’ court in the town of Chivu in the province of Mashonaland East, about 200km (124 miles) south-east of Harare.

Lawyer Mr Mhike said: “[Mr Mwanda is] pleading not guilty essentially on the basis that he was not in any way negligent. He’s attributing the cause of the accident to the poor state of the road.

“Any other driver driving on that patch of road would have more than likely ended up in the situation that this driver ended up in.”

He added: “[Mr Mwanda is] very much distressed and now the publicity which the story is receiving is putting him under aggravated pressure.”

Rally

Thousands of people from the townships of Harare have been walking long distances to the prime minister’s home in Strathaven, a western suburb of the capital, to pay their respects to Mrs Tsvangirai.

Brian Hugwe says a rally is to be held at Glamis Stadium in Harare on Tuesday to pay tribute to Mrs Tsvangirai on the eve of her burial in Buhera.

Mr Tsvangirai, who had previously spent time in Botswana while in opposition, flew there on Saturday for medical tests and rest after leaving a private clinic in Harare, MDC officials said.

He was treated for head and neck injuries from Friday’s crash at the hospital in the capital.

Mr Tsvangirai’s long-time political rival President Mugabe and his wife Grace visited the MDC leader’s bedside on Friday evening.

The Tsvangirai’s were travelling to Buhera when the crash occurred near Beatrice on Friday afternoon.

Police have said the lorry crossed into the lane in which the prime minister’s 4×4 was travelling and side-swiped the vehicle, causing it to roll over three times.

The British foreign ministry said the truck was part of an aid project jointly funded by the US and UK and that the crash appeared to be “a genuine accident”.

The collision came two days after Mr Tsvangirai delivered his maiden speech to parliament after being sworn in as prime minister in Zimbabwe‘s power-sharing government.

But relations between the MDC and Mr Mugabe’s ZANU PF party remain tense, with MDC ministerial nominee Roy Bennett still in custody, accused of links to an alleged plot to kill Mr Mugabe.

(Source)

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been flown to Botswana where he will recuperate and rest after leaving the hospital following a car accident that killed his wife.

Sources close to Mr. Tsvangirai told reporters Saturday the prime minister is exhausted and needs time to rest.

Mr. Tsvangirai was seen leaving the hospital earlier Saturday with other officials of the Movement for Democratic Change.

Regional and world leaders have sent condolences to the prime minister. South African President Kgalema Motlanthe issued a statement Saturday expressing his shock and wishing Mr. Tsvangirai a speedy recovery.

The South African Press Association (SAPA) reports ruling African National Congress party President Jacob Zuma issued a similar statement. The United States and Britain also sent messages of sympathy.

Earlier Saturday, Zimbabwean finance minister and MDC leader Tendai Biti said a police escort could have prevented the car accident.

The MDC secretary-general said that while police are investigating the crash, his party will conduct its own probe.

Initial reports say the truck that hit the prime minister’s car was carrying AIDS medicine donated by the United States.

MDC officials have said they want an inquiry into the collision late Friday on the poorly maintained road where the crash happened on the outskirts of the capital, Harare.

Zimbabwe‘s president, Robert Mugabe, visited the the prime minister, a long-time bitter political rival, while he was in the hospital.  

Tsvangirai’s wife, Susan, was 50 years old. They have six children.

Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai joined forces in a power-sharing government last month under intense pressure from regional leaders to end the nation’s political and economic crisis following violence-marred elections last year.

(Source)

The turmoil in Zimbabwe intensified last night when Morgan Tsvangirai, the new Prime Minister, was injured in a car crash and his wife was killed. There was no immediate evidence to suggest that the crash was anything but an accident, but Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF henchmen have staged car crashes to eliminate opponents before and Mr Tsvangirai has previously been the target of assassination attempts. “Conspiracy theories will abound,” one Western diplomat said. Officials of Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change said that his car was hit by the trailer of a large lorry as it swung out in front of it. His wife, Susan, 50, was on the side hit by the trailer and suffered terrible injuries. A hospital worker was told by Mr Tsvangirai’s chief security aide travelling with him in a Toyota Land Cruiser, that Mrs Tsvangirai was thrown out of the vehicle and fell a long way off. The aide and Mr Tsvangirai were trapped inside, but as soon as the aide managed to extricate himself, Mr Tsvangirai called to him: “Help my wife, help my wife!”

Mr Tsvangirai was in a stable condition in hospital, an MDC spokesman said, but the death of the woman to whom he had been married for 31 years, and with whom he has had six children, will be devastating at a time when he is struggling to establish Zimbabwe’s new coalition Government in the face of stiff resistance from ZANU PF hardliners. “I don’t imagine he will be able to give much thought to running the country or the legislative agenda for a while,” the diplomat said. The accident happened about 30 miles south of Harare as the Tsvangirais were returning to their home district, Buhera, for a rally tomorrow. Mr Tsvangirai’s spokesman, James Maridade, said that the Prime Minister’s car rolled over three times. “The accident happened between 1600 hours [1400 GMT] and 1700 hours but the details are still sketchy,” one party official said. “The driver of the truck appeared to be sleeping.” Other reports suggested that Mr Tsvangirai’s Land Cruiser had suffered a burst front left tyre and then rolled. The MDC leader was taken by ambulance to the private Avenues Clinic in Harare, where he was later visited by Mr Mugabe and his wife, Grace. State television said that Mr Tsvangirai had injuries to his head and neck. An aide was also hurt. “Morgan is talking, and he has been sedated,” said Eddie Cross, a member of the MDC’s national executive. “Last time I spoke [to hospital staff] he didn’t know about Susan’s death. He will be devastated. They were a real team.”

The two-lane road leads to Beitbridge, the main border crossing into South Africa, and is notoriously dangerous. It is deeply potholed. It is used heavily by lorries bringing goods into Zimbabwe, many of them overloaded. It was unclear if the Prime Minister had a police escort, but his car and driver and two accompanying security vehicles were provided by the MDC, not the Government, which would also seem to militate against the idea that this was an assassination attempt. Mr Tsvangirai has used the MDC Land Cruiser with a two-vehicle security escort for several years, usually with four officials in each car, and a guard in the front seat next to the driver in the Land Cruiser, with Mr Tsvangirai usually in the rear seat. Since becoming Prime Minister, he has been issued with a new S-class Mercedes-Benz, which he uses for official business. In December Elliott Manyika, a party youth wing boss, was killed in a suspicious accident and in November the air force commander Perrence Shiri was shot and injured in circumstances that have never become clear. Mr Cross said an MDC team that reached the scene before the police was subsequently detained. “When police turned up, they arrested them and confiscated the videos and pictures they had taken,” Mr Cross said. Asked if foul play was suspected, he replied: “That’s the big question. We don’t like that [the arrest of the MDC team] but we have to wait and see. We will demand complete transparency and a thorough investigation.”

Mr Cross also confirmed that earlier this week the new Mercedes-Benz limousine issued by the government vehicle pool to Lovemore Moyo, the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the MDC chairman, had had a blowout on the way from Harare to Bulawayo. Mr Moyo had travelled by air while his driver took the vehicle. “A brand-new vehicle with brand-new tyres. This is too much,” Mr Cross said. “There is something amiss.” Mr Tsvangirai has been the target of at least three assassination attempts, most spectacularly in 1997 when an eight-man assassination squad burst into his tenth-floor Harare office and tried to force him out of the window. He has also survived numerous death threats, arrests and beatings, one of which left him with a cracked skull, and a two-year treason trial that could have led to the death penalty. Yesterday’s crash came at a critical moment in Zimbabwe’s crisis. Mr Tsvangirai took a huge political risk by entering a unity government with Mr Mugabe last month, but Zimbabwe’s generals and other ZANU PF hardliners opposed to sharing power with the MDC have been conspiring to destroy it. They refused to release MDC activists who had been detained without trial, had Roy Bennett, one of Mr Tsvangirai’s ministers, arrested and organised further farm seizures. Gordon Brown sent his condolences to Mr Tsvangirai last night. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that it was monitoring the situation closely.

(Source)

Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife is said to have died in a car accident.

Tsvangirai is said to be injured but in a stable condition, according to reports from Harare.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman James Maridadi told the Zimbabwe Guardian that the Tsvangirai’s who were in a convoy of vehicles collided head on with a truck along the Harare-Masvingo road near Beatrice. The car was also carrying an aide, he said.

Mrs Tsvangirai is said to have died at the Avenues Clinic in the capital after sustaining multiple fractures, while Tsvangirai is said to be in a stable condition.

The Tsvangirai’s were on the way to Tsvangirai’s hometown of Buhera, south of the capital,when the accident occurred.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Reuters news agency that Tsvangirai was not in a critical condition.

“We have just heard that there was an accident of sorts involving the president of the party. Injuries, yes, but not critical condition, we are still assessing the actual condition,” he said.

He and his wife Susan, who were married in 1978, had six children.

(Source)

Zimbabwe‘s justice minister accused the UN’s top rights official on Wednesday of undermining the African nation’s new unity government by overly criticising it for alleged rights abuses. Patrick Chinamasa said he was very concerned by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s “seeming determination to put Zimbabwe on the spotlight of alleged serious and systematic violations of human rights”.”We are not without blemishes on the issue of human rights,” Chinamasa – a hardline loyalist to President Robert Mugabe – told the UN Human Rights Council. “It is the selectivity, partiality, bias and… politicisation that is of concern to us,” he added. Pillay said last month she was concerned over the disappearance of opposition supporters, allegations of torture and extraction of false confessions from political prisoners. She said she hoped the new unity government would restore the rule of law. Pillay said the government put pressure on the judiciary to keep human rights campaigners and opposition members in prison and said she was concerned over the failure of police to investigate and arrest people who allegedly committed serious rights abuses during election violence in June and July.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who won most votes in Zimbabwe‘s March election, pulled out of a June run-off against Mugabe because of state-sponsored violence against opposition supporters. Mugabe claimed victory in the run-off widely denounced as a sham. The coalition government was formed in February after months of political deadlock kept leaders from addressing the world’s highest inflation rate, a widespread hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic that has sickened more than 80 000 people and killed more than 3 800 since August. Tsvangirai was sworn in Tuesday in Parliament and was expected to deliver his first speech as prime minister on Wednesday. Chinamasa said Pillay’s statement was “an attempt to undermine the new political dispensation, as well as undermining Zimbabwe‘s judiciary”. “We are no worse than any other states,” he told the 47-nation council. Zimbabwe would grant Pillay’s request to visit the country “in the near future”, he added. United Kingdom‘s Africa Minister Mark Malloch Brown scolded the council for failing to address the situation in Zimbabwe. “Grave violations continue unchecked in Zimbabwe,” he said. “The council should be able to offer these countries support and must examine how they have escaped its attention.”

(Source)

The ZimEye has established that Langa who is Public Service Deputy Minister is experiencing the pathetic health services caused by the economic crisis under the ZANU PF party.

Medical workers at the United Bulawayo Hospitals revealed that Langa has a serious stomach ailment which life threatening.

“Langa is admitted at the UBH and is battling for his life after falling ill. He needs an operation in the stomach and the situation at the institution is critical because there are no drugs and doctors,” said the source.

The health worker added that Langa was having a test of his own medicine since his Zanu-PF government caused the collapse of the health delivery system.

The deputy minister is also reportedly failing to pay for his medical attention at well-to-do Mater Dei Hospital.

“If you see the kind of hospital bed Langa is using, you will feel sorry for him. The guy is suffering but its good because he is sharing with other poor Zimbabweans. That’s a good lesson for him and to other Zanu-PF chefs who destroyed the economy,” said the health worker.

Langa is the Member of the House of Assembly for Insiza North and he won the seat after perpetrating a wave of political violence against MDC members. He is well known for intimidating political opponents.

Last week, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced a US$1,5 million package to rescue government hospitals. He toured Parirenyatwa Hospitals where he had a shocking experience with the dilapidated infrastructure.

(Source)

Zimbabwean rogue televison reporter with the ZANU PF controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasing Holdings (ZBH), Reuben Barwe on Monday night defended Robert Mugabe’s utterances that he would not honour the Southern African Develoment Community Land Tribunal Hearing for Zimbabwean white commercial farmers to return to their farms.

“The Western media are at it again, they are going on to misquote the President for statements he did not make. Today they have reported that the president has ordered that the remaining white  farmers should vacate the farms. Last year they reported that the President had said there is no cholera in the country”, said Reuben Barwe.

President Mugabe clearly stressed in Chinhoyi last weekend, that white farmers who were granted permission  by the courts to reoccupy the farms they lost during the controversial land reform programme and have since come back to the said  farm should  vacate those farms.

“Those white farmers who had their land taken for resettlement by the state and have reoccupied them should vacate those farms, they should vacate those farms,” said President Mugabe in his speech during his lavish 85th birth day celebrations in Chinhoyi on Saturday.

The state controlled Television station went on to repeat the President’s whole birthday celebrations speech.

(Source)

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono has once again diverted millions of United States dollars that were meant for civil servants to pay Zanu-PF workers and militia. According to sources at the RBZ and in Zanu-PF, Gono has directed that selected Zanu-PF members and employees be given US$100 vouchers.

Investigations by the ZimEye showed that Zanu-PF militia received the US$100 vouchers this week.

The government says vouchers are redeemable at banks but the abuse of funds has caused a shortage of foreign currency in the financial institutions.

Sources said the vouchers were handed over on Monday and came as a surprise to most of the unsuspecting Zanu-PF supporters.

One of the beneficiaries of Gono’s misappropriation of funds who only identified himself as Tafara said he was greatly surprised to be paid “without doing anything.”

He revealed that a group of his party members were summoned to the Bulawayo provincial offices – Davies Hall to collect the vouchers.

“We don’t even know why we were given the US$100. We were told to take the money without asking questions,” said Tafara.

Highly placed sources said Gono was given instructions by President Robert Mugabe to “also give out payouts to party members and workers as a way of keeping support.”

The sources added that Zanu-PF was deserted by workers who quit over unpaid salaries stretching for a year.

“If you visit Zanu-PF offices, you will find out that there are no workers anymore. The majority left due to unpaid salaries. The party is broke and Gono is used to fund everything,” noted the source.

The government through the new Finance Minister recently paid US$100 to civil servants but Zanu-PF took advantage of the funds which were donated by well wishers, according to the source.

International donors have called for the sacking of Gono if they are to release financial aid to Zimbabwe.

Gono is said to be Mugabe’s financial manager after he funded the US$92 000 lavish holiday in the Far East early this year.

The central bank boss is also believed to be the worst since he looped off a total of 25 zeros to the currency during his tenure.

The MDC has fiercely contested Gono’s reappointment saying it was a gross violation of the Global Peace Agreement.

(Source)

Robert Mugabe reasserted his authority in Zimbabwe on Saturday at a lavish birthday party but urged followers to respect the new power-sharing administration. The extravagant celebrations were held against a backdrop of economic ruin and came weeks after the veteran leader joined a unity government with long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai.

“I am still in control and hold executive authority, so nothing much has changed,” Mugabe told a crowd of about 2 000.

“Under this arrangement I want it known, as some of you were thinking we are no longer in power, we have an inclusive government with the president at the top, followed by the two vice-presidents, then the Prime Minister Tsvangirai and two deputy prime ministers.

“This is a result of the vote in which we did not do well. Let us not complain too much about it. Let’s accept things as they are.”

‘Some sold Zimbabwe out’

The veteran president, who has ruled Zimbabwe non-stop since independence in 1980, blamed former colonial power Britain for his party’s defeat at the polls and accused those who turned against Zanu-PF of being traitors.

“They (British) imposed sanctions which resulted in some basic commodities being unavailable so that the people would be disgruntled with the party.

“Some of you thought about your tummies and children and sold out the country,” he blasted.

Mugabe supporters raised more than US$250 000 for Saturday’s celebrations which included a birthday cake weighing 85 kilograms.

The party was held north of the capital Harare in the town of Chinhoyi in Mugabe’s home province of Mashonaland West.

‘Mugabe never lets his people down’

Crowds arrived in lorries, singing songs in praise of Mugabe, while banners proclaimed him a “great leader who never lets his people down”.

Tsvangirai, who has been rallying the donor community for $5bn in aid and investment, was not at the celebrations despite initial reports he would attend.

The country desperately needs money to rebuild schools, hospitals and sewers after a decade of economic collapse compounded by country’s long political travails.

Chinhoyi local Leo Matiyashe, who runs a food kiosk in the town, had to put business above pleasure as crowds flock to the party.

“I am in business looking for money and I cannot afford to close my shop to attend the birthday party.”

Several members of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF have farms in Mashonaland West and conditions are considerably better than the rest of the shattered country with a university and one of the best-equipped state hospitals.

(Source)