Murdered MDC activist’s burial set for Wednesday in Gokwe

By Tichaona Sibanda
5 November 2007

Clemence Takaendesa, the MDC activist shot dead in KweKwe last week, will be buried in Gokwe on Wednesday, a week after he was murdered by retired army Brigadier Benjamin Mabenge.

Takaendesa’s body was sent to Bulawayo for a post-mortem on Sunday, while his brother Taurai Chigede, who was seriously injured in the same shoot-out, was transferred to the Avenue Clinic’s intensive care unit in Harare.

MDC youth chairman for KweKwe district Searchmore Muringani, said Takaendesa’s relatives have raised concern that Mabenge might once again walk free from police custody, as he has done on numerous occasions in the last seven years.

‘He (Mabenge) has been a suspect in a number of murder cases involving MDC activists and all the time he has walked free and not been sent to court. He has also received a presidential pardon for a number of high profiles arson attacks on the homes of MDC activists,’ Muringani said.

When police took Takaendesa’s body to Bulawayo, two of his relatives accompanied them because of the fear his body would be tampered with.
The relatives are demanding justice and are determined that Mabenge will face trial for murder charges. The retired Brigadier, well known for his volatile temper and penchant for violence, shot dead Takaendesa and seriously wounded his young brother on Wednesday last week while the duo were fishing with friends in the Mbemeswani River in KweKwe.

The river runs through Mabenge’s farm, which he grabbed from a white farmer in 2001. The retired army officer has told the police the brothers and two of their friends, who escaped unhurt during the shooting, were poaching. But the MDC has denied the claim saying Mabenge does not own exclusive rights to the river that passes through his farm. The MDC has said a preliminary probe into the death of Takaendesa last week would show that the retired Brigadier killed him in cold blood.

The retired army officer has a history of violence and causing mayhem is the Midlands town. Between 2000 and 2005, under the protection of Zanu-PF strongman Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mabenge left a trail of broken bones among MDC activists.