Zimbabwe: Susan Tsvangirai’s Death is a Microcosm
The Mother of the Nation
In the first season of The Sopranos, Uncle Junior secretly orders a hit on his nephew, Tony, whom he believes has undermined his position as boss. The attempt fails and the family, such as it is, pulls together — ostensibly blaming carjackers and exchanging manly pats-on-the-back even as they eye each other suspiciously. “I don’t believe it was a carjacking,” Tony’s son mutters in the hospital.
A similar situation is unfolding in Zimbabwe. On March 6, the Land Cruiser carrying Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai collided with a truck along the Harare-Masvingo highway. Susan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader’s wife and mother of six, was killed. While all the concerned parties have publicly stated their belief that the crash was an accident — Robert Mugabe even visited Mr. Tsvangirai in the hospital — an investigation by the opposition is underway. It is entirely conceivable that members of the Zanu-PF and/or the military orchestrated an assassination attempt. Even if this isn’t true, however, Mrs. Tsvangirai’s death stands as a microcosm for all that is wrong with Zimbabwe.
Victim of a carjacking or survivor of a botched hit?
First, compare Susan Tsvangirai to Grace Mugabe. The latter is known for maintaining an extravagant lifestyle — traveling to Hong Kong to shop, for example — even as ordinary Zimbabweans grapple with disease and economic destitution. The former is being hailed as “the mother of the nation.” Judi McLeod of the Canada Free Press drew this distinction nearly six years ago.
Second, thousands are expected to Mrs. Tsvangirai’s funeral tomorrow. Voice of America, however, reports:
Dr. Douglas Gwatidzo, chairman of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights and one of the doctors who treated Mr. Tsvangirai after the crash, said large gatherings like those planned for tomorrow and Wednesday present cholera infection risks.
More that 4,000 have died from the disease and nearly 90,000 are believe to be infected.
The car flipped over three times
Third, the truck that veered into Tsvangirai’s convoy was carrying HIV/AIDS drugs from the United States and Britain. On top of the cholera outbreak, Zimbabwe — like much of Africa — suffers quite severely from HIV/AIDS, with an estimated 2 million infections as of 2003.
Fifth, consider the claim by a former Tsvangirai spokesman that Mugabe confiscated Tsvangirai’s armored vehicle last year. Mugabe and his henchmen have repeatedly made life difficult for the MDC — imprisoning their officials, intimidating their supporters, and so on.
Finally, consider that this is not the first time that an opponent of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has died in a car wreck. Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4’s international news editor, while skeptical that Mrs. Tsvangirai’s death was anything but an accident, has compiled this list of prominent Zimbabweans who have been killed under suspicious circumstances:
- 1979: Josiah Tongogara, Mugabe’s great rival for the leadership of Zanu-PF
- 1992: Christopher Giwa, anti-Mugabe student leader
- 1994: Sydney Malunga, opposition politician
- 1995: Chris Ushewokunze, industry and commerce minister
- 1997: Peter Pamire, businessman suspected of getting too close to Mugabe’s wife, Grace
- 2001: Moven Mahachi, hardline Zanu-PF ally of Mugabe
- 2001: Border Gezi, hardline Zanu-PF ally of Mugabe
- 2007: Brigadier Armstrong Gunda, suspected of involvement in a coup attempt
- 2008: Elliot Manyika, minister and former regional governor.
While we all mourn the death of Mrs. Tsvangirai, there is no need to engage in speculative analysis of what may have happened; especially in situations where intentions are near difficult as evidence. There is however, clear evidence that Mrs. Tsvangirai’s death on the Harare-Masvingo highway is a clear evidence of much of what is wrong with Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe and other African leaders like himself. Mugabe presides over a government that has failed to serve its citizens’ economic, political and security interests. Roads, hospitals, schools, energy supply, clean water, communication and human capital are constantly neglected and allowed to decay in Zimbabwe and in other African states. Th road accident, which is very common across sub-Saharan African states that killed Mrs. Tsvangirai makes the intentions of the government clear–neglecting the people, they will go away either naturally or by accidents!