HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government on Sunday came to the rescue of ailing MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai when it deployed armed police guards to stave off the former prime minister’s alleged relatives who had wanted to raid his Highlands home of household property.
The visit to Tsvangirai’s residence by his relatives comes as they have been caught up in the ugly MDC infighting which has seen his wife Elizabeth, being denied access to him on account she is trying to influence the ascendency of one of the party’s vice presidents, Nelson Chamisa, to succeed her ailing husband.
Tsvangirai is said to be in a critical but “stable” condition at a South African hospital where he has been receiving treatment for cancer of the colon, which has kept him out of active involvement with the MDC for over four months.
Acting police commissioner-general Godwin Matanga did not deny that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) had deployed armed guards to Tsvangirai’s residence but told the Daily News that the Police Protection Unit (PPU) did not directly fall under his office. The PPU was the one deployed to Tsvangirai’s residence.
Home Affairs minister Obert Mpofu said he could not confirm the incident as he was yet to get a briefing. “I have not been given any details regarding that. I haven’t been briefed about that yet. I can only do that after getting the brief,” Mpofu told the Daily News yesterday.
Sources within Tsvangirai’s own security told the Daily News that three people who claimed to be the former PM’s relatives turned up at his Highlands mansion on Sunday unannounced and asked to gain access into the main house to “pick some things”.
Tsvangirai’s immediate family members, Elizabeth and his children were said to be in South Africa when the relatives pitched up at the residence. However, sources within the deeply-divided Tsvangirai’s family, said most relatives had turned against Elizabeth and the impromptu visit last Sunday, at a time they knew there was no one at the residence, served to underline this.
“They sent people to Tsvangirai’s house who claimed to represent the family and wanted to take things out and they were denied entry by the security who became suspicious and demanded to know what exactly theywanted to take out,” said the source. “They only left after Tsvangirai’s security called the police otherwise they wanted to get in by force. Nobody ever got to know what exactly they wanted to take out because they insisted that they wanted something inside.
“It later became clear that they wanted to transfer property to Tsvangirai’s old Strathaven home where he used to stay with his late wife, Susan, before the inclusive government in 2009,” added the source. Source: https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2018/02/10/family-fights-over-tsvangirai-property
Post published in: Zimbabwe News