Elizabeth Tsvangirai meets victims of political violence

By Lance Guma

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s new wife Elizabeth expressed shock when she came face to face with the survivors of the 2008 Jerera bombing which killed MDC-T activists Crison Mbano and Washington Nyangwa.

In 2008 Zanu PF thugs in army uniform ran riot and petrol-bombed the MDC-T offices at Jerera Growth point in Zaka.

The truckload of thugs besieged the offices at midnight and first shot the victims before bombing their offices.

Also housed in the building were some victims of political violence in the area who had sought refuge there. Soon after the attack the charred remains of 2 bodies lay on the floor in the burnt out MDC-T office and all had bullet wounds.

On Saturday Mrs Tsvangirai accompanied the Prime Minister to Zaka for a memorial service for MDC-T members who have died since the party’s formation in 1999. She listened while MDC-T youths narrated to her how they were attacked by soldiers at the MDC offices.

Mrs Tsvangirai also met survivors of the 2008 petrol bomb attack who included, Edson Gwenhure, Kudakwashe Tsumele and Isaac Mbanje. Over 500 opposition activists were murdered in the run up to the June 2008 presidential run-off engineered by the regime after Mugabe lost to Tsvangirai in March.

Only last week Mrs Tsvangirai visited Chikurubi and Harare Remand Prisons to see the 29 MDC-T members who are facing what their party firmly believe are ‘trumped up charges’ of murdering Police Inspector Petros Mutedza. The victim’s father and brother have already blamed CIO agents for the murder.

Two weeks ago in Bulawayo, Mrs Tsvangirai was the guest of honour at the signing of a US$233 000 grant from the Japanese government to King George VI School for the disabled. Students at George VI School live with various disabilities and many of them are orphans or come from poor families.

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