Bush telegraph mistake draws MDC leadership to village

Chapendama later gave a lecture to party supporters, saying he would only die when Morgan Tsvangirai ruled Zimbabwe.

The wrongfully communicated passing on of Chapendama, who introduced MDC politics to rural Marondera East District, had top provincial leadership such as MDC-T Member of Parliament, Ian Kay, and Provincial Main Wing Chairperson, Pinnel Denga, making frantic efforts to get to Chapendamas home.

Several officials made it to Chapendama village and were relieved to be met by a fit and healthy Chapendama attending his brother Josephs burial. Joseph was mistaken for Hebert in the funeral message communicated to MDC structures. He later told mourners that he felt safe and honoured by the arrival of his real brothers and sisters from MDC.

The respected MDC elder went on to address gathered party supporters at his nearby homestead. Thank you MDC for reacting timeously to what was described as my passing on by some poor communicators. However, I would like to take this opportunity to advise that I will only pass on after Tsvangirai has been President of this country and retires from office after five years like Nelson Mandela of South Africa did, he said.

My only wish is for Tsvangirai to walk in Mandelas footsteps. If he does just that, I would rest peacefully in my grave when the time comes. Surely, I will live to witness this. It is only a matter of time before Tsvangirai gets into State House. He has won every election against Mugabe in the past and will do just that in the next Presidential poll, said Chapendama.

Chapendama who has been MDC bed rock in the rural constituency since formation of the peoples democratic movement 1999, single handedly destroyed Zanu (PF) structures in the area and handed the political baton stick to his son, Brighton, who went on to win the councillorship of the ward 20.

His home and an orphanage at the homestead were once destroyed by Zanu (PF) thugs in a bid to destroy his fighting spirit. Chapendama expressed deep regret at the violence threatening to tear MDC apart. Colleagues in the struggle for democracy, my heart bleeds to learn that violence and vote buying are the order of the day in MDC. What exactly is eating away at the peoples project? Please continue having faith in Tsvangirai and the party objective to destroy dictatorship and replace it with a people driven democratic system. With the same breath, rest assured that both the vote buyer and those whose vote is being bought were never true MDC. History will judge them accordingly, he said.

Disturbed by MDC officials and supporters overwhelming convergence at the Chapendema home for the funeral, the following day Zanu (PF) Provincial Security Officer, Lawrence Katsiru, visited the homestead to investigate why MDC members had been there in such huge numbers.