By Staff Reporter
Notorious political gangster and ZANU PF political commissar Elliot Manyika died in a horrific car accident on Saturday morning while on his way to a meeting in Gwanda.
He was due to preside over elections for a new executive in Matabeleland South province. Manyika’s official Mercedes-Benz vehicle burst a tyre on the Zvishavane-Mbalabala road, resulting in the driver losing control.
The car over-turned and uprooted some trees. He was trapped for a time in the vehicle, together with the driver, before they were both whisked to Bulawayo’s Mater Dei hospital by a doctor who happened to be passing by.
Manyika later died from his injuries, but his driver is expected to make a full recovery. The 53 year old Manyika was currently serving as a Minister without Portfolio having previously served as minister of Youth Development, Gender and Employment creation.
As Youth Minister he ran the controversial Border Gezi training camps that churned out violent party militia used to kill, maim and harass opposition activists. Opposition activists will not be mourning his death given he would personally supervise abductions and beatings using his own twin cab 4x4 truck.
At the height of post election violence this year he was reported to have shot and killed a policeman in Bindura but the matter was quietly dealt with. During demonstrations by human rights group ROHR Zimbabwe last month Manyika drove to Mbare and Machipisa to personally collect thugs to beat up the protesters.
Coincidentally Manyika’s predecessor as ZANU PF national political commissar Border Gezi also died in a car accident while traveling to a party restructuring meeting in Masvingo province. Gezi had an equally atrocious human rights record. After Gezi died Manyika is said to have got the late Minister’s wife pregnant, an issue that did not go down well with party leader Mugabe.
Manyika was born on July 30 1955 at Rosa Clinic in Chiweshe, Mashonaland Central. He served as Zimbabwe’s High Commissioner to Malawi before returning home in 2000 to become Mashonaland Central Governor and Resident Minister.
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