'It was an accident,' Tsvangirai tells activists

IT WAS the face of a man in pain.

Wearing dark glasses, his cheeks still swollen, Morgan Tsvangirai appeared outside his home in Harare yesterday to tell mourners he believed the car accident that killed his wife, Susan, 50, on Friday afternoon was just that – an accident.

"When something happens, there is always speculation but I want to say in this case, if there was any foul play, it was one in a thousand," Zimbabwe's prime minister said.

"It was an accident, and unfortunately it took her life," he added.

"I want to thank God for giving me 31 years with my wife."

"Life will go on and I am certain she would have liked life to go on," he said.

Mr Tsvangirai arrived home earlier in the day from neighbouring Botswana, where he was flown at the weekend for medical check-ups. Most of his six children gathered at the family's modest bungalow in Strathaven suburb. The Tsvangirais' youngest children, twins Millicent and Vincent, are 14.

Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said Mr Tsvangirai's recovery had been "remarkable and satisfactory".

The driver of the truck carrying American aid that swerved into the Tsvangirais' 4x4 appeared in court in the central town of Chivhu yesterday.

Chinoona Mwanda, 35, was not asked to plead. His lawyer indicated earlier that he would deny a charge of culpable homicide, blaming the crash on the poor state of the road. He was granted bail and ordered to surrender his passport.

Police reports have said that Mwanda is suicidal.

Meanwhile, Mr Tsvangirai's comments will do little to quell Zimbabwe's rumour mill, which is working overtime on conspiracy theories.

Several of those who have fallen foul of the president, Robert Mugabe, have died in car accidents, including Moven Mahachi, the defence minister, Border Gezi, the youth minister, and Elliot Manyika, the Zanu-PF political commissar.

"It was a planned incident," a youth from the Shona tribe insisted, while a woman echoed many by suggesting the prime minister's driver was a member of Mr Mugabe's Central Intelligence Organisation. "Morgan says it was an accident, but no-one believes him," she said.

But few can dispute Zimbabwe's abysmal road safety record. Reports a couple of years ago said traffic accidents were the second most common cause of death after Aids.

Outside of the capital, Mr Mugabe never uses the country's roads. He sends his entourage on ahead, while he travels in his private helicopter.

The pot-holed stretch of road between Harare and the town of Beatrice on which the accident occurred is one of the country's deadliest.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that roadworkers may have left a pile of tar, which the truck swerved to miss.

Yesterday, Mrs Tsvangirai's body lay at home, as is customary in local tradition. Thousands of people came on foot to pay their respects.

Her death has triggered an outpouring of grief across the country, showing the couple's popularity. This is in comparison with the open dislike for Mr Mugabe's wife, Grace, who recently punched a British photographer in the face while in Hong Kong.

"I am saddened by the death of Susan," said Mike Garikai, one mourner gathered outside the prime minister's house.

"Tsvangirai must remain steadfast."

Mrs Tsvangirai will be buried in Buhera tomorrow.

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DAY OF MOURNING

WITH a huge service planned at Harare's Glamis Stadium, today will be one of the hardest days in Mr Tsvangirai's life. He can hardly have anticipated this day when he and his wife took the stage at the stadium a month ago for his triumphant inauguration speech. With terrible poignancy, the prime minister turned 57 yesterday.

Asked ahead of the extravagant 85th birthday party of the president, Robert Mugabe, on 28 February how he intended to spend his own birthday, Mr Tsvangirai is reported to have quipped: "With a cup of tea with my wife and a cake from the supermarket."

Yesterday, Mr Tsvangirai's official webpage was inundated with condolence messages. "It is sad to be robbed of our new mother of the nation," said one reader.