CIO seize Tandare’s body

By Violet Gonda

17 March 2007

Robert Mugabe’s notorious Central Intelligence Organisation allegedly removed the body of the late Gift Tandare from a funeral parlour in Harare, after forcing his father to sign a letter of consent. Alex Muchadehama the lawyer representing the family said it was in clear violation of the family’s rights to bury their loved one as his wife, mother and other relatives were unaware that the body had been taken.

The security forces have been playing politics with the deceased’s family causing confusion on the whereabouts of the body. The lawyer said there was a burial order and the deceased was going to be buried on Monday at Granville Cemetery. But early Saturday morning state agents “then forced the father and the aunt to go to the Registrar of births and deaths to change the burial order so that it would read that the burial is now going to take place in Dotito in Mount Darwin.” This is despite the fact that t he family had originally wanted to bury Tandare at their rural home in Mount Darwin but were forced to switch plans because of unrealistic demands by their local Chief Kandeya. Initially the Chief had refused to allow Gift’s family to bury him at Mashanga village on Saturday, on the grounds that he was an MDC activist. The chief later wanted four head of cattle as payment to allow the deceased to be buried in his area.Tandare was an MDC and NCA activists who was shot and killed in cold blood by police last Sunday, when violence was used to block a gathering organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.

Muchadehama confirmed that he went to the funeral parlour on Saturday and was told the body had been taken without the consent of Tandare’s wife and other close family members. “No one knew about it until we told them that as far as Doves (funeral home) were concerned that was what had happened and that the body had already been collected around about 9am today. And when we went there immediately after 9am there was no body of the deceased at Doves.” The lawyer said none of the family members had at the time of broadcast been able to communicate with Tandare’s father. He said: “If they coaxed or forced someone to really go against their wishes to take the deceased without any of the other relatives knowing it really means that the police or whoever did it is out to force their will on the people.” The police have been playing politics with the deceased’s family, since the fatal shooting, in a complete sign of disrespect for the dead. Not content with the murder of Tandare security forces descended on the Glen View home of the deceased, on Tuesday and ordered all the mourners to lie down. They then beat people severely, without any provocation and fired several random shots, injuring two. One of the victims, Naison Mushamanaka, had been shot in the arm the previous morning and received treatment and discharged. But he was then shot again on Tuesday this time smashing his lower arm. He has had an operation and is still in hospital. The family have instructed the lawyer to seek an urgent court application to allow them to bury their loved one as it’s believed the police plan to bury Gift Tandare in Mount Darwin on Sunday.