Post-mortem results on MDC activist reveal he was also beaten

By Tichaona Sibanda
7 November 2007

A post-mortem carried out by a police pathologist in Bulawayo on the late MDC activist Clemence Takaendesa revealed that his body showed signs of physical beating, his family claimed on Wednesday.

Takaendesa, who will be buried in Gokwe on Thursday, was shot dead last week Wednesday by retired army Brigadier Benjamin Mabenge on his KweKwe farm that he grabbed in 2001. Although the post-mortem confirmed that Takaendesa died from wounds caused by a single gunshot, his family said they were shocked by revelations that he had signs of beatings on his body.

John Mupfura, a family spokesman said they have been able to piece together minute-by-minute events leading to and after the fatal shooting but have not found anything suspicious.

‘We know for sure he was not assaulted before the fatal shooting. We also know that for a while after the shooting there were people next to him tending to his brother who was injured in the same incident. Whatever happened to him, must have been during the period when the now deceased Takaendesa was left on the spot until the following day,’ Mupfura said.

He advised the family would not be drawn to speculate on the post-mortem results amid suggestions Takaendesa may have been ‘finished off’ after surviving the initial shooting.

This theory is seemingly supported by the fact that he was certified dead 16 hours after the shooting. His friends, who left him on the scene of the shooting, may have mistaken him for dead when he may have fallen unconscious and regained it later on.

Meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports that the retired army officer charged with Takaendesa’s murder was granted bail on Tuesday by a Gweru magistrate. Mabenge would be requested to report to the police once every week.

‘If this is true then it confirms our fears that someone high in government will do everything possible to protect him from prosecution,’ Mupfura said.