Mujuru is a former army chief, often seen as Zimbabwe's "king-maker" in the battle to succeed President Mugabe. He is said to be have died in an electrical fire that broke out at the farm in Beatrice. He died together with his girlfriend whose name was not immediately given. His estranged wife Joice was said to be at the couple's Chisipite home when the fire broke out.
Air Marshall Henry Muchena confirmed that General Mujuru has died.
"It's true, Cde Rex Nhongo is no more," he said.
Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said he was not yet aware of the death: "I haven't heard that. I don't know anything. If we get in information we will let you know."
But a Zanu PF Politburo source confirmed that the General had indeed died. Another Central Committee member confirmed that Mujuru had died.
Under his nom de guerre, Rex Nhongo, Mujuru spearheaded the guerrilla forces during the 1970s war of independence, which ended white minority rule.
He is also said to have played a key role in Mugabe's rise to the top of the Zanu party.
Following independence, he served as army chief, rising to become one of the most celebrated army generals.
He served as Member of Parliament for the north-eastern Chikomba constituency, before leaving public life in 1995 to concentrate on his sprawling business empire.
But he has always kept his senior role in the ruling Zanu-PF party, where true power resides in Zimbabwe. This could give him some say in how and when Mugabe leaves office. But towards the end, he was said to have fallen out of favour with the President, who preferred the leader of a rival faction battling to succeed him led by Emerson Mnangagwa.
He was expected to be laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre with full military and State honours.
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Mwari ka, God is for all of us zveshuwa. There is a God, up there!! shuwa kutsvira mumba musiri mako???? tsk tsk tsk
GUY Watson-Smith and his family on Friday fled to South Africa after their
two Beatrice farms were seized by Retired General Solomon Mujuru.
Watson-Smith, 51, is a director and shareholder of Hanagwe (Pvt) Ltd which
owns Alamein and Elim farms about 70km south of Harare.
The farmer fled the country hours before his lawyer filed an urgent
application in the High Court. Watson-Smith is the Commercial Farmers’ Union
’s provincial chairman for Mashonaland East. “We were worried about our
safety knowing Mujuru would be named in court papers which are in the public
domain,†he said from Pretoria, where he is staying with relatives. “We will
stay in South Africa for as long as this takes.†Mujuru, 54, is a former
commander of the army. This is the first case brought before the courts by a
commercial farmer against a member of President Mugabe’s inner circle as a
result of seizure of land and assets.
Mujuru once sued the now-defunct Horizon magazine over a story he claimed
was defamatory. On discovering that Andrew Moyse, then the magazine’s
editor, was white, he reportedly told the court: “If I had known white
people had defamed me, I would have shot them.â€Â
Watson-Smith claimed in the court papers Mujuru evicted him from his farm in
September and seized assets worth about R160 million (about Z$1 920
million).
He alleged Mujuru in November forced him to grow at his own expense 140
hectares of tobacco on the farms, which he said were interdependent. The
tobacco production amounts to 500 000kg , which translates to about US$1,5
million (about Z$82,5 million).
The assets seized, including tractors, vehicles and irrigation equipment,
are worth $120 million. Part of Watson-Smith’s affidavit reads: “When I
asked Mujuru if I would be allowed to remove moveable assets, Mujuru said he
had paid for them and they were his as much as ‘the shirt on your back’ and
that I would be paid for the crop in the ground.â€Â
The farmer is also suing Dr Joseph Made, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture
and Rural Resettlement, Dr Ignatius Chombo, the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing, and the war veterans’
commander for Beatrice district known only as Zhou.
Zhou also sits on the district’s land committee.
Watson-Smith said Zhou threatened to kill him. He says he was unlawfully
evicted from the farms, on which he also grows paprika, groundnuts, maize,
pastures and katambora seed for export. In addition, he breeds 430 head of
cattle and keeps a 490-herd of commercial game.
Watson-Smith employed 120 permanent and about 40 seasonal workers from
adjacent communal lands. He is seeking an order for the immediate return and
recovery of all movable property on the farm. He said Zhou had, on behalf of
Made, Chombo and Mujuru, detained the property on his farms.
Elim Farm was gazetted for compulsory acquisition on 2 June 2000 but he
objected, in a letter to the Acquiring Authority. Watson-Smith again
challenged an acquisition order he received on 8 December 2000 and the
hearing is pending before the Supreme Court. Alamein Farm was gazetted for
compulsory acquisition on 25 August 2000 and although an acquisition order
was served on him on 5 December 2001, the 90-day notice period has not yet
expired and neither has he been served with an eviction order from a
competent court.
Watson-Smith said the district administrator randomly pegged his farms in
September without warning. His neighbour and his elderly mother on Silver
Oaks Farm were barricaded in their home for five days by war veterans after
he removed some of the pegs. Watson-Smith said he offered up to 417 hectares
of his farms, leaving him with 862 hectares. He said he promised to assist
resettled farmers with tillage, seed, fertiliser, transport and dipping
facilities, but the provincial administrator rejected the offer. He suspects
the farm was supposed to be kept in pristine condition for Mujuru.
On 18 September, Zhou, accompanied by two war veterans known only as Joe and
Chris, ordered Watson-Smith and his wife, Vicky, 44, to leave the property
immediately. Mujuru, travelling in a Pajero vehicle registration number
742-223N, visited the farm with Zhou six days later demanding farm records.
Watson-Smith was ordered to move his father and mother, both in their 80s
and ailing, off the farm on 8 December.
They were only allowed to carry their household goods. But before the family
had left, the farm was looted at Zhou’s instigation, Watson-Smith said.