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Tanonoka Joseph Whande
I pray that Mai Tsvangirai rests in peace.
I pray that, for the sake of the nation and no longer for himself and his
family, Mr Tsvangirai has the courage to emerge from this disaster with the
same determination that he had before this tragedy occurred.
I pray that the Prime minister maintains or regains his focus.
Susan Tsvangirai stood by her husband through a lot of trying times and,
indeed, she died sitting next to her husband.
It is my hope that Mr Tsvangirai recognises that he and Mai Tsvangirai were
no longer 'private' people but belonged to the nation and, to that extent,
people will always talk about what happened or didn't happen.
Forgive me, I beg you.
Zimbabweans have endured a lot over the decades.
The death of Susan Tsvangirai is one of several warnings our nation has
received since independence and this does not, in any way, mean that her
death might not have been an accident.
It means that, once again, we are jolted to the realities of life.
Because, in some cases, the death of a good person unwittingly strengthens
or assists the bad.
I salute Mr Tsvangirai for his sheer energy, for his open wish to see
Zimbabwe regain its lost glory. I admire him for accepting, against much
criticism, embracing Mugabe.just for the sake of the nation.
Tsvangirai's sincerity and humility could not have been more apparent than
when he groaned and struggled to sit up in his hospital bed to greet Mugabe
who had come to see him.
I felt some revulsion to see Grace Mugabe shedding a tear or two and was
reminded of Mugabe kneeling before Levy Mwanawasa's widow.
Tsvangirai struggled up and reportedly said to Mugabe, "Baba, mwana wenyu
waenda. Zvakangoitikawo." (Father, your daughter is gone; it was an
accident).
I was unable to keep down my own tears as I watched the scene on television.
Had Tsvangirai felt wronged, it would have been clear. He had lost a wife
and had barely come out with his own.
But he maintained his cool and respect. I salute him.
Mugabe had, of course, brought in television cameras with him.
Now, I want to purposely digress and say to Mr Mugabe that there comes a
time when a man, a father and a leader has to acknowledge shame.
There comes a time when, given all that life has given you, you say thank
you and you sit down and watch the people you have weaned and liberated
enjoy the legacy of your efforts.
In your case, Mr Mugabe, you should have taken time out to enjoy what you
did for Zimbabwe.
You are now throwing handfuls of sand into the good food you cooked for the
nation.
It is unfortunate that today, you interfere with what your people want to do
for you.
It is regrettable that you, yourself, have no sense of time.
Your ideas, intentions and manners have become a burden to the nation.
You are selfish, Sir, and I say to you that you are being unkind to the
nation for denying us the opportunity to thank you for what you did for us.
You continue to deny us the respect that we should willingly bestow on you.
You make us orphans for, regardless of your forced presence, we are orphans;
we don't have a president. Not at all, Sir.
I am ashamed to be taking a cue from you who use burial ceremonies of other
people's children as platforms to embarrass us in the eyes of our community
and the world.
However, well-intentioned, you have become too synonymous with funerals,
Sir.
It appears as if your favourite captive audience is a funeral congregation
unavoidably brought together by what you have recently coined "the hand of
God".
Since the days of the liberation struggle, car accidents have been
synonymous with ZANU-PF, whenever it wanted to get rid of a foe or of one of
its own political children.
Car accidents with trailers sideswiping a victim's car or hitting badly
parked trucks litter ZANU-PF's history.
Today, our suspicions must be forgiven but understood.
Josiah Tongogara died under as still unexplained circumstances when his car
allegedly hit a military truck parked by the roadside.
After his death, ZANU-PF released an undertaker's statement saying his
injuries were consistent with a road accident, but no autopsy results or
pictures were released.
After independence, many of our compatriots active in politics died in
mysterious car accidents.
Interestingly, Mugabe's last three Political Commissars all died through
highly questionable road accidents.
Eliot Manyika perished in December 2008 after his Mercedes Benz sedan
reportedly overturned.
"A tyre on the official Mercedes-Benz in which Cde. Manyika was travelling
burst, resulting in the driver losing control," said the official report.
"The vehicle veered off the road then rolled. He was pronounced dead on
arrival at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo."
The man Manyika had replaced as ZANU-PF Political Commissar, Border Gezi,
also died the same way.
"The Mercedes-Benz burst a tyre, resulting in the driver losing control,"
said the official report. "The vehicle then rolled once and veered off along
Masvingo Road on Saturday morning April 28, 2001. He was pronounced dead on
arrival at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo."
Maybe the Mercedes Benz Motor Company should sue Mugabe and ZANU-PF for
tarnishing the image of their product.
Or, conversely, ZANU-PF should sue Mercedes Benz for killing its officials.
Surely, Benz vehicles can't just burst tires and overturn, killing Mugabe's
people?
And now our Prime Minister has barely come out alive from a car accident
that claimed his wife's life.
After the accident, the MDC said that they wanted an independent
investigation of the accident, implying that they were suspicious of the
accident.
But early this week, in a now familiar MDC flip-flop, the Prime Minister
himself told the press that it was, indeed, an accident.
The Prime minister's advisors should have allowed him to face the press only
to assure the nation that he was on the road to recovery and not to comment
on the accident itself since it is the subject of a court case.
Although we have absolutely no faith in Police Commissioner Chihuri and his
men, the Prime minister might have pre-empted police investigations.
Granted, the prime minister is an eyewitness to the accident and no one
disputes that.
People necessarily want to know how it happened and what caused it.
This accident is not a family matter; it is a national issue.
The Prime minister's statement that might have helped to calm nerves and
avert possible violent repercussions. I believe it was well intentioned.
We should, however, let the dust settle and then talk. We know that foul
play of this nature is made to appear real.
We are still talking about Tongogara's accident, Sydney Malunga's, Ziyambi
and Samuel Parerenyatwa's accidents.
There was also Ndangana, Duri, Mahachi and many others.
It must have been chilling for Tsvangirai to look up and see the Mugabes,
Emerson Munangagwa, the Director of the Central Intelligence Organisation
and a host of other Mugabe loyalists who had always persecuted him staring
down at him.
Could Mugabe have gone to the hospital to warn Tsvangirai of possible worse
things to come while he was in mourning and while his own wounds were still
fresh?
Could Grace Mugabe really cry in sympathy with Tsvangirai?
Why was the person who took photographs of the scene of the accident
arrested?
Forgive me for being skeptical. I have walked down this road before.
The heart of the matter is that we are now afraid to believe, off hand, such
car accidents.
We have buried so many of our compatriots who died in still unexplained and
mysterious car accidents.
We wonder why such unexplained car accidents only happen at critical times.
Yes, an allegedly drowsy truck driver might have hit Tsvangirai's car but
was that the accident?
Or the accident was that Tsvangirai did not die?
Whether it was an accident or not, none gives us comfort.
You see, I am very suspicious of the executioner who comes to my home to pay
his respects after hanging my kin.
What do you think? Send me your comments on tano@swradioafrica.com
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it
is today, Thursday, March 12, 2009.
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