Luke-ing the Beast in the Eye: Morgan Tsvangirai’s sad June 27 memo to the people of Zimbabwe

Memory is a site of the struggle. Today is 27 June 2025. In Zimbabwe’s tenuous political story, June 27 is synonymous with the bloody violence in the run-up to the contrived run-off poll of 27 June 2008 in which Zanu PF used massive violence in a desperate quest to overturn Dr Morgan Tsvangirai’s first round poll victory on the historic election of 29th March the same year.

Since then, June 27 has become a figurative expression of the demon of State-sanctioned violence in the country.

On Sunday, 22 June of the same year, just five days before the blood-soaked run-off poll in 2008, Dr Tsvangirai had pulled out of the violent charade, saying he could not sacrifice the people for power.

The democracy icon famously stated that he was a cultured African and would not dare walk to State House on top of dead bodies and graves.

Indeed, many were brutally and callously killed by both the army and Zanu PF thugs.

Zimbabweans melancholically remember these armed goons, with a marked indifference on their faces, asking some of their victims to choose between “short sleeve” (having your wrists chopped off) or “long sleeve” (having your arm cut off from the shoulder).

The rest, as they say, is history.

But then there is God in Heaven and justice in the future because most of these killers and perpetrators of violence are known in the communities.

The contrived run-off plebiscite was later dismissed by SADC and the AU as a sham, leading to the formation of the inclusive government in February 2009, which government brought the much-needed fillip to the people of Zimbabwe.

Since that bloody event of 2008, the date of 27 June has become ominously etched as an indelible blot on Zimbabwe’s national psyche.

But today, I want to remind Zimbabweans of the other dark side of June 27 as a wicked political moment: a tragic day that grossly interfered with the high pitched chorus for change that had gathered as Zimbabwe inched towards the 2018 elections.

Indeed, in many respects, June 27 is a black day that will go down into the annals of history as a dark stain on the country’s strident march to democracy and freedom.

Today, I republish Dr Morgan Tsvangirai’s 27 June 2016 memo to the people of Zimbabwe. It was his first public disclosure of his health condition on a continent where the ailments of national leaders are a top secret.

It was the statement in which he went public for the very first time about his condition with cancer of the colon that eventually felled him.

Of course, it will always remain a matter of conjecture whether this condition was natural or contrived by a regime so adept at getting rid of political opponents.

On my part, I had privately haggled for quite some time with Dr Tsvangirai on when he could make this disclosure to the people of Zimbabwe.

He had told me he would ruminate over the matter before making his decision.

The intricate details on this and his relationship with Mugabe during the era of the inclusive government as well as his fears, hopes and frustrations, including some details which might shock readers, are all contained in my still to be published book, Service and Sacrifice.

Suffice to say on 27 June 2016; while on a medical trip to South Africa after consulting both his doctors and his family, Dr Tsvangirai called me over the phone to tell me he had finally made a decision to go public on his health condition.

He then asked me to draft a short message on his behalf to the people of Zimbabwe.

We exchanged drafts over the phone before I finally released the following statement on his behalf later that very day.

The disclosure of his medical condition marked a seismic chapter in the country’s history, culminating in the death of Zimbabwe’s democracy icon on 14 February 2018.

His diagnosis with cancer of the colon spawned big political decisions, including the appointment of two more Vice Presidents, which decision the regime would later seize to infiltrate and destroy the party and the opposition in general, a development made possible by paid internal charlatans, the party’s own structural weaknesses as well as the abuse of captured State institutions, particularly Parliament and the Judiciary.

For me, Dr Tsvangirai’s terse June 27 2016 memo, republished below, will always remain a poignant epistle in the momentous story of this country’s democratic struggle.

The memo also adds to the blemish and taint that is carried by the date of June 27 in Zimbabwe’s political story:

President Morgan Tsvangirai speaks on his health

On the 8th of May 2016, my Zimbabwean doctors referred me to South Africa where a further diagnosis revealed that I am suffering from cancer of the colon.

Following the diagnosis last month, I underwent a successful operation in the same month.

However, a diagnosis of cancer is the first of several medical procedures that include treatment through chemotherapy, which treatment I began this week.

As a leader and a public figure, I have taken the decision to make public my medical condition.

It is my firm belief that the health of national leaders, including politicians, should not be a subject of national speculation and uncertainty.

I want to thank my wife Elizabeth for her love and caring, my family, MDC members and the broader Zimbabwean society for their prayers and support on this journey.

This health condition is unfortunate but can be faced by anyone. I intend to confront this development with the determination to overcome it.

In the meantime, let us remain focused on confronting the national crisis we face.

God bless you all.

Morgan Richard Tsvangirai

Conclusion

Dear reader, the only way we can defend and protect Dr Morgan Tsvangirai’s legacy is to remain focussed.

We must continue to fight this corrupt and murderous regime until democracy is achieved in Zimbabwe.

Many have have died, many have sold out and so many continue to sell out on this painful, inexorable march towards a new Zimbabwe.

But we will certainly get there.

And only then can Morgan Tsvangirai , the legend, truly rest in peace.

Rest in power, Pakuru.

Luke Tamborinyoka is a citizen from Domboshava. He is the former spokesperson to the late icon Morgan Tsvangirai. He is a journalist and a political scientist by profession. You can interact with Tamborinyoka on his Facebook page or on the twitter handle @luke_tambo