HARARE – Zimbabwe intelligence chief Happiton Bonyongwe has ordered a probe into allegations that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was issued with a defective vehicle during a tour of drought-ravaged south-western Zimbabwe, ZimOnline was told on Thursday.

Tsvangirai, according to his officials, narrowly escaped death last month when his official all-terrain vehicle burst a rear tyre during a trip to the arid Matabeleland region where the Premier had gone to assess the food security situation in the region.

“Bonyongwe has the report on his desk and is investigating the matter as it puts the coalition government in bad light. An official report from the manufacturer clearly shows the car was tempered with before being issued to the PM,” said a government source, speaking strictly on condition that he was not identified.

It was not possible to get confirmation from Bonyongwe’s office because the Central Intelligence Organisation does not discuss its work with reporters as a matter of principle.

There were also reports that Tsvangirai’s MDC party would also launch its investigation to establish how a defective car was issued to the head of government although some officials said that it was also possible that the vehicle could have been tampered after delivery to the Prime Minister’s department.

James Maridadi, the Prime Minister’s spokesman, confirmed investigations into the matter were underway but would not say who exactly was investigating the matter. “Its obvious the PM wants answers,” said Maridadi.

According to various press reports on Thursday, a German expert, Karl V Lehnardt, who imported the vehicle that was being used by Tsvangirai insists that the car was fitted with run flat tyres and had a very low mileage, while all its systems were in perfect condition.

The reports quoted Lehnardt as suggesting that the vehicle was tampered with after he delivered it to the government.  

“When I inspected the vehicle now, I observed the following: The boot is not opening. The spare wheel is very badly damaged and cannot be repaired. The remote control as well as the central locking system is dysfunctional. The run flat equipment is in the boot of the vehicle. All door hinges are loose. There is evidence that the vehicle has been used before it was delivered to the owner,” Lehnardt is reported to have said.

Tsvangirai survived a horrible car crash last March that, however, unfortunately claimed the life of his wife Susan. He ruled out foul play in the accident that happened only weeks after he formed a unity government with President Robert Mugabe.

The latest road mishap involving the Prime Minister is unlikely to cause major upheaval in the fragile unity government but will certainly feed speculation in a country with a long history of mysterious deaths of leading political figures many of them of them in road accidents. -- ZimOnline,