Minister escapes death by whisker

Source: Minister escapes death by whisker – DailyNews Live

Mugove Tafirenyika      30 May 2017

HARARE – Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora escaped
death by a whisker last week after he was involved in a horrific hit and
run car accident – amid fears that Zanu PF’s worsening tribal, factional
and succession wars may have been at the heart of the calamity.

Well-placed sources who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said although
Dokora miraculously escaped the accident with minor bruises, his car
suffered extensive damages which officials said could see it being written
off or requiring tens of thousands of dollars to repair.

They said Dokora’s luxurious official Mercedes Benz vehicle was hit by a
car “whose driver somehow contrived to overtake him on the left side” as
he approached the intersection of Lomagundi and Harare Drive roads in the
capital – heading north towards Westgate.

“The terrible accident occurred at around midnight and the minister was
alone in the vehicle when he was suddenly side-swiped by a speeding
vehicle whose driver somehow contrived to overtake him on the left side.

“The fact that the car was trying to overtake him on his left side and
that the driver never stopped has caused a lot of panic within the
minister’s circles, as they now suspect that it is the work of his
political rivals.

“What makes the whole thing even more suspicious to them is the fact that
State security officials decided that the car be taken straight to CMED
(the government-run Central Mechanical Engineering Department) before a
police report could be made.

“Now the vehicle has since been taken to Zimoco for assessment and repairs
without police inspection, and it will require quite a substantial amount
of money because it was extensively damaged,” one of the sources familiar
with the accident told the Daily News yesterday.

Police spokesperson Charity Charamba said as far as she knew the matter
had not been reported to law enforcement agencies, although it was
possible that her colleagues could have attended the accident scene.

“I have always said that if the accident is not as serious as to have
resulted in death, it is not necessarily reported to me. So, I am only
hearing it from you,” Charamba said.

Dokora could not be reached for comment last night as he was said to have
left for Kenya on government business after apparently being given the
medical green light to travel.

Vehicle accidents involving senior Zanu PF officials and Cabinet ministers
have previously drawn lots of suspicion both within the brawling ruling
party and among ordinary Zimbabweans.

Zanu PF is currently divided right through the middle, with the camp which
is rabidly opposed to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa succeeding
President Robert Mugabe, the Generation 40 (G40) faction, involved in a
life-and-death tussle with the VP’s backers, Team Lacoste.

The level of animosity between the two camps was laid bare last week when
rival supporters bludgeoned each other in mindless bloodletting which
forced the planned Bulawayo provincial coordinating committee (PCC)
meeting to be aborted.

The growing fissures within Zanu PF have also seen a number of Mugabe’s
Cabinet ministers, including his nephew Patrick Zhuwao, receiving death
threats.

In April, Mashonaland Central provincial affairs minister Martin Dinha
claimed he had received death threats while he was in Dubai.

“A female and a male called me and said usadakufira mahara (don’t die for
nothing) using private numbers. They said ‘you have a family, be careful
what you say’,” Dinha claimed then.

That was not the first time that Dinha had had threats made against his
life.

In 2015, Dinha also received an AK47 bullet and a threatening message
telling him to step down or risk suffering the same fatal fate that befell
the late Zanu PF political commissar, Elliot Manyika – who died in a
suspicious car accident in 2008.

The “parcel” with the bullet and threatening message was delivered to the
minister’s office just after midnight – forcing the
lawyer-turned-politician, a lightweight in Zanu PF, to go into hiding”.

Dinha has also previously survived several other attempts to oust him from
his ministerial post.

Sports minister Makhosini Hlongwane also found a bullet in his hotel room
in Harare last year. The bullet had been placed on a headboard in the
room.

This happened at a time when Zanu PF had ordered its Midlands province to
conduct hearings against provincial leaders who stood accused then of
threatening Hlongwane and two other ministers.

Zhuwao received death threats related to his public criticism of Mnangagwa
and his supporters in the run-up to Zanu PF’s annual conference which was
held in Masvingo late last year.

Observers have also previously said Mugabe’s failure to resolve Zanu PF’s
succession riddle is fuelling the party’s deadly infighting.

The 93-year-old has studiously refused to name a successor, insisting that
the party’s congress has that mandate: to choose a person of their own
choice.