Suspected Maisiri murderers named

By Lance Guma

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Four Zanu PF activists have been named as having taken part in the murder of Christpower Maisiri, the 12 year old son of an MDC-T aspiring candidate who was burnt to death after the hut he and his family was sleeping in was torched.

The other siblings, James, 17, Munashe, 15, Panashe and their sister, Tinotenda, 9, survived the attack.

Nehanda Radio understands Gilbert Makura (Zanu PF district chairperson for Village 47), Isaac Dhogo (Dobo), Annah Mumbana and Tendai Gosho (Zanu PF district chairlady) all strongly linked to Didymus Mutasa, took part in the arson.

The arsonists have not been arrested. We understand they have also been fingered in nine politically-motivated violence incidences targeted against the Maisiri family since 2008. Despite this they have never been arrested.

Mutasa who is the Zanu PF Secretary for Administration was at pains to deny responsibility, bizarrely claiming that the Maisiri family were Zanu PF members. The victim’s father Shepherd Maisiri promptly set the record straight.

“All I can say is that he is a mad man and needs to have his head examined. To say that he is my friend is a total joke. If he was…he should be here with me paying his condolences with the rest of the other people gathered here,” he said.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will on Thursday join the Maisiri family and thousands of MDC-T supporters for the burial of Christpowers. The burial will take place at Dzikiti Village or Village 55 in Headlands.

Christpowers was a Grade 4 pupil at Ruura Primary School. A post-mortem was carried out at Parirenyatwa hospital but the results have not been released.

To add salt to injury four agents from the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) visited the home of MDC-T official Shepherd Maisiri in Headlands, while driving a Mazda pickup truck that had no number plates.

Maisiri refused to discuss the incident with them on the grounds that ‘murders’ or ‘crime scenes’ are investigated by the police and not state security agents. Christpower is said to have survived two similar attacks before Saturday’s one.

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