It is not always you find the Zanu PF top brass in tears, but yesterday they were — openly so. One could not believe these were the same individuals that put on brave faces in the toughest of times during the liberation war, vowing to conquer even the most insurmountable of challenges.
But at Alamein Farm, the sight of their former guerilla commander, Retired Army General Solomon Mujuru, reduced to a pile of ashes in a house inferno, proved too heavy a tragedy to fathom.
When NewsDay arrived, the party’s stalwarts were trickling in and calmly consoling each other. The deceased’s wife Vice-President Joice Mujuru was seated sombrely outside, surrounded by a number of women, in true African style.
Men were on couches engaging in tetes-a-tete and a police team was in the house, carrying out investigations.
Moments later, Deputy Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga announced mourners could enter the house and view the charred remains of the former Zanla supremo.
It was a ghastly sight, not for the faint-hearted. The remains were just a few bones surrounded by ashes at the door of the dining room. Suspicion was that Mujuru was attempting to escape the inferno.
Vice-President Mujuru was the first to come out wailing, State Security minister Sydney Sekeramayi followed suit, weeping piteously.
Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment minister Saviour Kasukuwere also wept uncontrollably and so did his Gender and Women’s Affairs counterpart Olivia Muchena. Others who wept openly at the grisly sight included Zanu PF politburo member Dzikamai Mavhaire and parliamentary aspirant Elias Musakwa.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Cries of the country’s top politicians continued to engulf the usually serene environs of this farming community as funeral undertakers carried Mujuru’s remains into a hearse.
The visibly shaken farm workers were seated together at a distance as they took in the sad scene. The 18-roomed farmhouse, a brick-under-asbestos structure, was gutted down in the early hours of yesterday and only a handful of property was retrieved in the inferno, whose origins are still a mystery.
