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By Ntando Ncube JOHANNESBURG – A former
personal guard to Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai died at a
Johannesburg hospital allegedly after failing to recover from injuries he
suffered when he was assaulted by government agents in Harare. Nhamo Musekiwa, 35, died
on Wednesday at Thembisa Hospital, according to Roy Bennett, the treasurer of
the faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by
Tsvangirai. Musekiwa was in South
Africa seeking political asylum after he, Tsvangirai and other MDC activists
were last March severely assaulted and tortured by the police for attempting to
attend a banned prayer rally. “I can confirm to the
public that President Tsvangirai’s personal aide, Nhamo Musekiwa, died on
Wednesday morning at Thembisa Hospital in Johannesburg,” said Bennett. “He was ill for a long
time and did not recover after the attack by the police in Harare on 11 March,”
added Bennett, who lives in South Africa after also fleeing agents of President
Robert Mugabe’s government. A senior official at the
MDC’s South Africa office said the opposition party would cover the cost of
repatriating Musekiwa’s body to Zimbabwe as well as cover other related costs. Musekiwa joins a growing
list of MDC activists who have died allegedly after being beaten or tortured by
agents of the Harare government or militant supporters of Mugabe’s ruling ZANU
PF party. The MDC has accused ZANU
PF and state agents of stepping up violence and human rights abuses against its
activists despite ongoing dialogue between Zimbabwe’s biggest
political parties aimed at finding an amicable and democratic solution to the
country’s long running political and economic crisis. South Africa’s President
Thabo Mbeki is mediating in the talks between the Zimbabwean political parties. The MDC on Wednesday said
Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi had promised to investigate politically
motivated violence against opposition activists. However, state media quoted
him as having dismissed opposition claims of violence as hearsay. - ZimOnline |