Digital News Report- Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his wife were in an auto accident with a truck south of the capital, Harare. Tsvangirai is currently in stable condition, but his wife died from her injuries. They were apparently heading to their rural home for a Saturday rally.
“What he told me was that the truck went for his car,” Dennis Murira, director of public affairs in the prime minister’s office, said. “That’s how he put it.” Their Land Rover flipped three times after being struck by a truck coming from the opposite direction. The driver of the truck claims to have fallen asleep at the wheel.
The possibility of an assassination attempt has added to the already tense political environment in Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai was installed as Prime Minister on February 11th and had previously run for President against current President Mugabe. Many of his supporters were attacked and killed during the election, forcing him to withdraw from the run-off.
“We appeal to all Zimbabweans to remain calm,’’ Sibanengi Dube, a spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change’s South African branch, said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg. “Zimbabweans are all too aware how many of Mugabe’s opponents have died in road accidents, and we pray there is nothing suspicious.’’ Tsvangirai has been the target of three assassination attempts during his political career.
Mugabe visited Tsvangirai in hospital along with his wife, Grace, Vice-President Joyce Mujuru, and government officials. Nebson Chatikura, a security guard at Harare’s private Avenues Clinic, told Bloomberg News that, “they didn’t speak to anyone when they entered.’’
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