More information emerges on airport road murders
By Lance Guma
31 July 2007.

As more information emerges from the tragedy that struck along Harare’s airport road last week it turns out that it was one university student Tafirenyika Magwidi, and 2 other men, who were murdered by unknown assailants. The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) on Monday issued a statement saying 3 students were caught up in the suspected ambush but Sidney Chisi, a youth leader in the Youth Initiative for Democracy in Zimbabwe, was able to shed more light on the incident on Tuesday.
In an interview with Newsreel he revealed how the naked body of Magwidi, a Humanities student at the University of Zimbabwe, was found between the Catholic University in Hatfield and the One Commando army barracks on the other side of the road. The same complex also houses the 2 Brigade headquarters. Chisi explained how a variety of factors connived to sentence Magwidi and the other two to a brutal death. He says the eviction of over 4000 UZ students from campus, the crackdown on the business sectors which has created transport shortages, and the perennial power cuts, all created the environment that led to the murders.

The group decided to walk after failing to secure transport and Magwidi in particular was in temporary accommodation in Hatfield after being evicted from the UZ campus halls. It’s also thought power cuts made the entire area very dark and easy to operate in for those who attacked them. Chisi says the same area has seen a dramatic increase in the number of muggings. He says the number of ‘street kids’ and people struggling to survive the economic collapse is fuelling high crime levels. He also blamed commuter omnibus drivers for conniving with robbers operating in the area.
A post-mortem conducted has now revealed Magwidi was ‘hit by a strong object.’ His mother, a cross border trader, was busy selling her wares in Namibia at the time her son was killed. She is said to be deeply distraught. No details regarding the identity or cause of death of the other two victims have come out yet, except that they died from their injuries a day after the attack. A fourth man is in a coma and battling to survive in the intensive care unit of a local hospital. Magwidi was buried at his rural homestead in Mhondoro on Tuesday, with a service held at St Josephs Roman Catholic Church in Hatfield the previous day.

ZINASU president Promise Mkwananzi meanwhile blamed the Zanu PF regime for the murders saying they created the situation that led to the tragedy. He refused to rule out political motives in the murder saying criminals were not known to kill people and take their belongings as happened in this case. The students are currently trying to get the Vice Chancellor arrested for defying a High Court order setting aside the eviction of over 4000 students. Mkwananzi said the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights are working on the case and they hoped something would happen soon.