Tsvangirai in stable condition in hospital

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, who on Friday afternoon survived a car crash that killed his wife, Susan, was admitted to Harare’s Avenues Clinic, where President Robert Mugabe was among the visitors in the evening.

Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary general and Zimbabwe’s new Finance Minister, told journalists that Tsvangirai was in a stable condition.

"The Prime Minister is in a stable condition," he said as he was helped through a throng of journalists who jostled to hear the latest information on Tsvangirai’s condition.

Except for those working for state-controlled media, such as ZBC TV and The Herald, journalists were barred from entering the wards to see Tsvangirai.

Ironically, the Zimbabwean Premier had visited the clinic only last week to see MDC and other activists who were recovering from injuries sustained during weeks of detention and torture at the hands of their kidnappers, state agents.

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, James Maridadi, said the Prime Minister was travelling to Buhera when his vehicle, a Toyota Landcruiser, collided with a box truck travelling in the opposite direction. Apparently Tsvangirai relies on MDC security arrangements when he travels, a sign that he may not be entirely comfortable with the security provided by the government in which

he is Prime Minister.

Tsvangirai was travelling in a convoy of four vehicles, his Landcruiser being third from front, when the Harare-bound truck encroached on the side of his vehicle soon after it passed the two leading security vehicles in the convoy. The truck sideswiped the Prime Minister’s vehicle on the right side, where his wife sat behind the driver, killing her instantly.

Her body was taken to the Beatrice Hospital Mortuary. Tsvangirai was admitted to the Avenues Clinic where he was said to be in a stable condition.

There were reports that a local commercial farmer, Deon Theron who was among the first to arrive on the scene of the accident and who took photographs of the accident had been arrested. The police had reportedly confiscated the camera. Theron was being held at the Beatrice Police Station. He is the vice president of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU).

Tsvangirai was sworn-in on February 11 as Prime Minister of a coalition government with his old rival, Mugabe. He was due to hold a rally at Murambinda Growth Point near his rural home in Buhera, in the eastern province of Manicaland.

"He was traveling to Buhera for a rally tomorrow," said Maridadi.

"At about 1600hrs, his vehicle, about 100km from Harare was involved in an accident with a haulage truck that was coming in the opposite direction.

"The information that we have was that there was contact between the vehicles and the truck hit into the side of the Prime Minister’s vehicle and it rolled three times. All the four occupants that were in the vehicle were injured, including the Prime Minister."

President Mugabe arrived at the Avenues Clinic shortly before 8 pm and spent over an hour in the hospital. As he exited from the hospital, he did not pause to speak to journalists who mobbed him for comments on Tsvangirai’s condition.

Mugabe merely shook his head and got into his waiting limousine.

He was accompanied by Vice President Joice Mujuru and cabinet ministers Emmerson Mnangagwa and Saviour Kasukuwere as well as Central Intelligence Organisation director, Happyton Bonyongwe. The Reserve Bank governor was part of Mugabe’s entourage.

Apart from Biti other MDC officials at the hospital were party spokesman Nelson Chamisa, youth assembly leader Thamsanqa Mahlangu, Harare legislator William Madzimure and Senator Henry Madzorera.

Also present were National Constitutional Assembly chairman, Lovemore Madhuku and Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Raymond Majongwe. In addition, there were also low-level representatives from foreign diplomatic missions. The last time Madhuku and Tsvangirai were in the hospital at the same time was in 2007 when they were admitted after they were seriously assaulted while in police custody.

Members of the public converged at the Avenues Clinic as news of the Prime Minister’s accident spread.

"I just cannot believe this," said a man in the crowd, "Why should this happen at such a critical moment of our lives."

Tsvangirai, who led his party into a unity government with President Mugabe’s Zanu PF, is widely seen as the one politician with potential to rebuild Zimbabwe’s bartered economy.

Friday’s crash occurred two days after Tsvangirai delivered his maiden speech in Parliament.

In the United Kingdom the BBC spoke to Thabitha Khumalo, an MDC Member of Parliament who is currently attending an international women’s conference in Scotland. She said the loss of Mrs Tsvangirai, whom she said she had known well, was a "huge blow" to the country.

"It is a very sad day for me and for all Zimbabweans, whether they be at home or abroad. She was a mother figure for the whole nation," she said.

"Few people knew about her work. Whenever they saw her she was accompanying her husband to court or to vote, but very few people knew she played a very crucial role behind closed doors.

"She was a pillar of strength to (her husband). In a struggle like his, you need someone to lean on and she was always there for him."

Speaking in an interview in February Mrs Tsvangirai praised the power-sharing agreement between Zanu-PF and the MDC. She said the past decade had been an "endurance test" for her husband and his colleagues in the MDC.

"People went through hell, but they stuck to their ideals to seek change through democratic means," she said. "This was a struggle that we endured with MDC cadres, activists, supporters and other peace-loving Zimbabweans.

Given the history of bad blood between Zanu-PF, the President’s party and Tsvangirai’s MDC there was immediate speculation that the Prime Minister’s accident was the result of foul play.

"It is curious that a vehicle such as Tsvangirai’s Landcruiser should roll three times. This was a clear attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister," said a furious senior MDC official.

Another official said: "It was a clear plot aimed at the Prime Minister. They have missed him and now they have killed an innocent soul. This is completely unacceptable."

Both requested to remain anonymous.

In a bid to dispel such speculation, one website known for its hostility to the MDC and Tsvangirai, published the picture of a box truck, that it said was similar to the one involved in the fatal accident.

The website said the accident truck had been purchased by the United States Embassy and donated to an unidentified charity.

thezimbabwetimes