MORGAN Tsvangirai's four-year-old grandson has drowned less than a month after the Zimbabwe prime minister's wife was killed in a road crash, his spokesman said yesterday.
Tsvangirai rushed home from Victoria Falls, where he had been taking part in a planning con-ference for ministers in the unity government.
The child, Shaun, drowned in the swimming pool at the prime minister's home on Saturday, the spokesman
said. The boy was the son of Mr Tsvangirai's second son, Garikai, who lives in Canada but was in Harare after the death of Mr Tsvangirai's wife, Susan, in March.
Mr Tsvangirai, 57, only recently returned to work after mourning for his wife of more than 30 years.
The conference, also attended by President Robert Mugabe, was intended to draw up a plan for the next 100 days to try to pull Zimbabwe out of economic collapse and reduce lingering suspicion between Mugabe's party and the former opposition headed by Mr Tsvangirai.
"It is our collective hope that after the 100 days, the country will begin experiencing a firm and determined walk on the road to economic stabilisation and recovery," Mugabe told the meeting on Friday while urging ministers to rally behind Mr Tsvangirai – his long-time rival.
In his opening speech to the conference, Mr Tsvangirai had stressed the need to work together to overcome the huge challenges but said it was vital to do more to increase respect for human rights in a country that became synonymous with political oppression and arbitrary arrests.
In Mr Tsvangirai's absence, another former opposition leader, Arthur Mutambara, was due to make the closing statement to the Victoria Falls retreat, which was backed by the World Bank.
