Zimbabwe PM hurt and wife killed in crash on way to rally

MORGAN Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's prime minister, was injured last night in a car crash that claimed the life of his wife.

A spokesman for his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said Mr Tsvangirai was in hospital but was not in a critical condition.

There was no immediate sign of foul play in the crash, about 30 miles south of Harare, as Mr Tsvangirai headed to his rural home in Buhera for a weekend rally. A lorry coming in the opposite direction veered off the road and hit Mr Tsvangirai's vehicle, his spokesman said.

His long-time foe, the president, Robert Mugabe, arrived at the hospital late in the evening, followed by Joice Mujuru, a vice-president and member of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government in February after months of negotiations to try to end a political and economic crisis that has brought Zimbabwe to ruin.

Mr Tsvangirai, who is 57 on Tuesday, had been married to Susan for 31 years. They have six children.

Although Mrs Tsvangirai was not actively involved in the MDC, she supported her husband and appeared at campaign rallies with him over the past ten years as he battled Mr Mugabe's entrenched power base and faced many tribulations.

The road where the accident occurred is, like many in Zimbabwe, in poor condition because of a lack of maintenance and is notorious for accidents. Long stretches have been reduced to a single lane.

Zimbabwe state television cancelled its first evening newscast without explanation and reported nothing about the accident in its second.

Mr Tsvangirai was sworn in on 11 February as prime minister in a power-sharing deal meant to end almost a year of deadly stalemate with Mr Mugabe, who remains president.

The unity government has been rocky after years of rivalry between Mr Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, and Mr Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Mr Tsvangirai formed the MDC a decade ago. As the party emerged as a serious political challenger, he repeatedly faced the wrath of Zanu-PF.

He has been beaten and imprisoned several times, and was once almost thrown from a tenth-floor window by suspected government thugs.

Scores of his supporters were in prison even as he joined the government. Some have since been released, but not the prominent party member Roy Bennett. Mr Tsvangirai's nominee for deputy agriculture minister, Mr Bennett has been in prison since 13 February. A white farmer, he faces weapons charges linked to long-discredited claims that Mr Tsvangirai's party was plotting to use force to overthrow Mr Mugabe. Mr Bennett's lawyers had hoped he would be freed on Wednesday, after the High Court ruled the state had no right to oppose bail. Prosecutors have appealed against the bail ruling and state TV reported on Friday that a magistrate had been taken into custody for "alleged abuse of office" for signing a release order for Mr Bennett based on the court ruling.

State TV quoted police as saying the release order should not have been signed while the supreme court was considering the ruling.

Zimbabwe has the world's highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis that has left most of its people dependent on foreign handouts and a cholera epidemic blamed on collapse of its health and sanitation system.

Cholera has affected 80,000 people and killed more than 3,800 since the outbreak began in August.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are expected in Zimbabwe next week to review its economic situation and discuss policies to address the humanitarian crisis.

South Africa is considering opening a credit line to help Zimbabwe rebuild its shattered economy after years of political and economic crisis, it was reported yesterday.

Last night, Downing Street said Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, had sent condolences to Mr Tsvangirai.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman added that it was "monitoring the situation".

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THE MAN WHO WON'T GIVE UP

THE son of a bricklayer, Morgan Tsvangirai was born in 1952 in central Zimbabwe. He worked in a mine to feed his family and cut his political teeth in the labour movement as a mine foreman.

He helped found the MDC in 1999. Despite intimidation, it stunned the ruling Zanu-PF party by winning 57 of 120 seats in a 2000 parliamentary vote.

He was acquitted of plotting to assassinate Mugabe and seize power before a 2002 election.

Tsvangirai took first place in an election in March 2008 beating Mugabe, but without the absolute majority needed to avoid a second round.