Minister Mumbengegwi’s wife targeted MDC activists

By Lance Guma
16 October 2007

The fatal assault of a villager in Masvingo, over what initially was reported as theft from a farm, has now been exposed as a crackdown on MDC activists in the area. Tecla, the wife of Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi, was arrested at the end of September for hiring soldiers from 42 Infantry Battalion to assault a group of villagers, including Fibion Mafukidze, who later died. Vice President Joseph Msika intervened and blocked charges against the minister’s wife, claiming an out of court settlement had been reached between the two families.

One of the men who survived the assault, Maxwell Mazambani, has now issued an affidavit claiming he was wearing an MDC T-shirt when the soldiers arrived at his home in Gutu. Mazambani who stood as a candidate for councillor in ward 5 Gutu North said a white Nissan pick up truck belonging to Mrs Mumbengegwi arrived with 6 men wearing camouflage uniform. The group had crates of beer stacked in the back of the vehicle. The soldiers asked Mazambani why he was still wearing an MDC T-shirt. The previous year he had his t-shirt burnt in Matizha Township by the same group of soldiers.

Four villagers, including Stanley Mashoko, Mafukidze and Mazambani, were taken to an airforce base (referred to as a torture camp by locals) on Eastdale Farm. The affidavit by Mazambani goes on to narrate how he was made to shout MDC slogans while soldiers viciously beat him with thick sticks on his buttocks, legs and back. They kicked him with booted feet, poured cold water on him and made him spin around. The torture went on for 6 hours and he says this was done in a room separate from the others. He also disclosed how on arrival they saw 8 other men who were being beaten at the airbase.

Around 6 in the evening they were bundled into a truck and driven off into the bush. Mafukidze meanwhile was already unconscious. Mazambani says he was dumped in the bush and managed to crawl home. The next morning he reported the matter to the police, after finding a good Samaritan who offered transport to Gutu Police station. It was there that he got news that Mafukidze had died in the night. The case has shocked the Masvingo community because of several events that took place after. An airforce commander involved in the assault went on to commit suicide in police custody while another soldier shot himself in an unsuccessful suicide bid.

Question marks remain over how Vice President Msika managed to broker a civil compensation deal in a murder case that was clearly criminal. Police acceptance of the deal, which led to the dropping of the charges against Tecla and the soldiers, has also served to demonstrate the role of politicians in subverting justice in the country. MDC Welfare Secretary Kerry Kay told Newsreel they remain undeterred by Msika’s deal and will pursue justice for the Mafukidze family. She said Msika could offer, ‘a billion mombe’s’ for the deceased’s family but this would not change their position. She reiterated that there was no price on a persons life and even if the current regime got away with protecting the Mumbengegwi’s the crime would catch up with them one day.