Another widow joins the angry ranks

Zimbabwe’s vice-president Joyce Mujuru is on her way to becoming another inconvenient army widow. Ever since the death early last week in a house fire of her husband, the powerful ex-army chief and presidential contender retired general Solomon Mujuru, officials from president Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party have warned that those asking questions are “stoking the fire of hatred”. But now Mrs Mujuru says she too finds his death “weird” and wants a “satisfactory” explanation.

She may not get one, as the widow of former brigadier general Armstrong Gunda can testify. Mr Gunda was killed when his car collided with a train at a rail crossing near Marondera in 2007. He was buried with full military honours, Mr Mugabe himself giving the funeral oration. The authorities installed safety features at the crossing. It all looked cut and dried until his widow spoke out.

On the anniversary of her husband’s death in 2009, Tatenda Gunda took out an advertisement in the press in which she alleged that her husband was assassinated. The only injuries Mr Gunda suffered in the collision were gashes on his head, while there were bruises round his neck. There was no blood inside the car, but his bloodstained clothes were found in a suitcase in the boot.

The army says a board of inquiry has ruled out foul play. Mrs Gunda has found a way to keep her allegations in the public mind. Diners at her Tatenda Lodge in Victoria Falls are greeted by a sign that says: “Makauraya [You killed]. Enjoy nice meals.” It is not the most popular lodge in town.

The revolutionary party has a habit of devouring its own. The vice-president’s husband joins a list of power-hungry Zanu-PF officials who have died in unclear circumstances over the past decade. They include defence minister Moven Mahachi and political commissars Elliot Manyika and Border Gezi, who died in car crashes. Two army associates of Mr Gunda’s died at about the same time as he did: there were rumours the men were involved in a coup plot.

“Zanu-PF invests in violence and they now engage in burning people,” finance minister Tendai Biti of the Movement for Democratic Change charged last weekend.

The problem with traffic accidents is they leave bodies. As news of the fire broke on 16 August, Zimbabweans were told Mr Mujuru’s body had been “burnt beyond recognition” – though it had, apparently, been identified without the help of DNA tests. Reports say it was little more than a pile of ash.

Of course, not all car crashes here are assassination attempts: Morgan Tsvangirai maintains the crash that killed his wife Susan in 2009 was a genuine accident. It is possible the fire at the Mujuru homestead was caused by a candle left burning after a power cut, as police and state media say. Zanu-PF has pooh-poohed the claims of the farm’s white former owner, who said his house – confiscated during the land grab and given to Mr Gunda – had more windows and doors “than holes in a colander”.

The concerns of Mrs Mujuru will prove harder to dismiss. She says the windows in her husband’s bedroom were so low her little grandson could jump out of them. That Mr Mujuru didn’t escape that way was strange, she said.

Fingers are being pointed at a Zanu-PF faction led by defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who oversees the army that first investigated Mr Mujuru’s death. Mr Mnangagwa’s faction was involved in a battle for control of Zimbabwe’s diamonds and chrome.

“Everyone in the party is looking over their shoulder. Fear now rules in Zanu-PF,” political analyst John Makumbe told Newsday. For now though, the grieving Mrs Mujuru appears to be beyond fear.