MDC Pressroom - About 40 000 thousand people from all the corners of the country and the world yesterday converged at Humanikwa Village in Buhera to bury Amai Susan Nyaradzo Tsvangirai, the wife of MDC President and the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.Amai Tsvangirai, 51, died last Friday after she was involved in a car
accident along the Harare – Masvingo highway on her way to the family’s
rural home in Buhera.
Among the thousands of mourners who attended the rally were; the Deputy
Prime Minister Professor Hon. Arthur Mutambara, Swazi Deputy Prime
Minister Themba Masuku, Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi
and Buhera’s traditional chief, Chief Makumbe. Also present at the
funeral were South Africa’s Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe and
Botswana Minister of Communication, Science and Technology Mrs Pelonomi
Moitoi.
Ministers from Zambia and Malawi also came to Buhera to pay their last
respects on behalf of their governments, further confirming that Amai
Tsvangirai’s love and humility had spread beyond the country’s borders.
People from all walks of life were at Humanikwa Village to bury Amai
Susan Nyaradzo Tsvangirai – the mother of our struggle for peaceful and
democratic change in Zimbabwe.
She had fought for years for true democracy in Zimbabwe.
Giving a keynote address at the burial MDC Vice President and Vice
Prime Minister, Hon. Thokozani Khupe said everyone was touched by the
death of Amai Tsvangirai.
"We are all hurt by the death of Amai Tsvangirai as she united everyone both in the Tsvangirai family and the MDC," she said.
"For Prime Minister Tsvangirai to run the party and perform his
Government duties there was a manager behind him. She was a nation
builder and the person who was always behind the Prime Minister.
"We want to move the country forward and we want Prime Minister
Tsvangirai to be well again so that he leads the MDC in developing the
country," said Hon Khupe.
Hon. Khupe said the burial of Amai Tsvangirai was not a funeral but a celebration of her life.
"This is not a funeral but a celebration. We are celebrating the
vision of a mother. We are saddened by the death of Amai Tsvangirai
but we do not regret," she said.
Amai Tsvangirai stood by her husband during his trial on trumped up
charges of treason, four assassination attempts and the 11 March 2007
police beatings including many other forms of harassment and assaults.
Hon. Khupe’s sentiments were echoed by Professor Mutambara who said Amai Tsvangirai’s death should unite the nation.
"We are mourning a mother for Zanu-PF, a mother for MDC and a mother
for my small MDC. The death of Mrs Tsvangirai should unite the people
of Zimbabwe,"
he said.
Professor Mutambara said Amai Tsvangirai deserved to be declared a national heroine.
"If Amai Tsvangirai is not a national heroine, then who is?" he quipped.
In his vote of thanks, MDC secretary-general and Finance Minister Hon
Tendai Biti thanked the region and the world for standing by the
Tsvangirai family and the MDC during their hour of grief.
He said ANC President Jacob Zuma had offered sanctuary to Hon
Tsvangirai and his family to withdraw from public life for a few days
to enable them to recover from their grief.
Amai Tsvangirai leaves behind a husband, six children and two grandchildren.
MDC Information and Publicity Department
Post published in: News