MAKONI SOUTH An MDC-T activist died here last week from injuries that local party leaders say he suffered during torture by Zanu (PF) militia in the run-up to the controversial June 2008 presidential run-off election won by President Robert Mugabe. (Pictured: MDC support
The party said Denford Tsvara, who was a coordinator in the constituency, was kidnapped from his home in the middle of the night and severely assaulted and tortured by the Zanu (PF) activists. An MDC councillor from the constituency told The Zimbabwean on Tuesday that Tsvara, who passed away last Wednesday, had never recovered from the injuries sustained during the beatings and torture. Ward 25 councillor Dennis Gumunyu said: Tsvara complained of chest pains since after the beating. He never recovered. His health deteriorated and we believe this led to his untimely death. He was a very hard working and committed party member. His death is a great loss to the party because it came at a time when we are mobilising our supporters for the drafting of a new constitution.
According to Gumunyu, Tsvara, who was buried here last Thursday, is survived by his wife and three children. MDC-T controls the Makoni South constituency after its candidate Weber Chinyadza wrestled the seat from Zanu (PF)s Joseph Made. Zimbabwe witnessed probably its worst electoral violence to date after the MDC defeated Zanu (PF) in a parliamentary election in March 2008, while the former opposition partys leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a parallel presidential poll but with fewer votes to avoid a second round run-off ballot. In a bid to ensure Mugabe regained the upper hand in the second round vote, the army, Zanu (PF) militia and war veterans unleashed violence and terror across the country, especially in rural areas many of which virtually became no-go areas for the opposition.
Tsvangirai later withdrew from the June 27 run-off election in protest against state-sponsored violence against his supporters, leaving Mugabe to win the vote uncontested. However the West and some African governments refused to recognise Mugabes controversial re-election and the veteran leader was forced to agree a power-sharing deal with Tsvangirai under which he ceded some of his powers to the MDC. Arthur Mutambara, who heads the smaller MDC formation was appointed a Deputy Prime Minister under the power sharing deal.
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