United States disowns Tsvangirai crash driver, car

ENQUIRY: Moyo has demanded international probe

• Susan Tsvangirai is laid to rest

• Could seat belt have saved Susan Tsvangirai?

• Mugabe says crash was 'hand of God'

• On his birthday, Tsvangirai makes final farewell to tragic wife

• MP wants US aid agency probed over Tsvangirai crash

• Tsvangirai says crash an accident, rules out foul play

• Orbituary: The life of Susan Tsvangirai

• Online: Prime Minister's Website

Posted to the web: 12/03/2009 18:03:44
THE United States has moved to put distance between itself and the crash that killed the wife of Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister.

The United States embassy in Harare released a statement to “clarify accident vehicle ownership” after an MP demanded an enquiry into the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) following reports that the driver of a truck which shunted Morgan Tsvangirai’s vehicle off the Harare-Masvingo highway on March 6 worked for the aid agency.

“The truck that was involved in the accident with the Prime Minister’s vehicle… does not belong to USAID. It was purchased with USAID funds by a contractor and belonged to the contractor,” the embassy said.

The unnamed contractor was delivering essential HIV and AIDS drugs and medical supplies to health clinics under an effort co-financed by USAID and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID), it added.

“The driver of the truck, a Zimbabwean national, was an employee of the contractor, not a USAID employee,” it said.

Jonathan Moyo, the independent MP for Tsholotsho North, demanded an enquiry into USAID activities this week, saying its link with the tragic crash “added a worrying dimension”, despite Tsvangirai’s public stance that it was a genuine accident.

Another USAID driver, Frank Muchirahondo, was recently charged with attempting to assassinate the Commander of Zimbabwe’s Air Force, Air Marshal Perence Shiri in a gun attack. The matter is yet to go to trial.

Moyo said: “When something of this kind happens once, it raises eyebrows. When it happens twice, with such tragic consequences, and so soon, all hell breaks loose.

“The fact that the British Foreign Office, followed by the Americans, was quick to issue a statement saying this was a genuine accident invites serious curiosity which can only be removed after an international investigation.

“Nobody should think that all Zimbabweans are foolish to believe that a genuine accident is one that does not implicate Zanu PF. Indeed, it would utterly be ludicrous for anyone to believe that car accidents in Zimbabwe are genuine only if or when they involve USAID vehicles or drivers with British interests.”

Reacting to the embassy statement on Thursday, Moyo told New Zimbabwe.com a US embassy official had called him over the matter. The official, he said, stated that the driver was employed by an organisation called Crown Agents which is funded partly by DfID, the UK government department.

The same official, the MP revealed, said there were TWO TRUCKS at the crash scene. The truck which caused the crash was being followed by another whose driver’s evidence led US and British officials to conclude the crash was a genuine accident.

Moyo said: “The US embassy statement today is adding fuel to a fire that they started, and this does not help matters because there are now very serious and worrying questions.

“How can an American-registered car, purchased with American money, driven by a driver hired from Britain and paid with American money; be owned by a British agency funded by British money and formed from the ashes of a British colonial institution?”

Moyo said the US embassy official, while disowning the driver, had not disowned the Nissan UD truck which sideswiped a Toyota Land Cruiser carrying Tsvangirai and his late wife, Susan. The truck bears US embassy number plate 81 TCE 128 and had a USAID insignia on it, according to America’s ABC News website (link).

“I am shocked and frankly disgusted that they now turn around and disown both,” Moyo said. “This accident took the life of our Prime Minister’s wife and opened sinister floodgates, with sinister speculation pointing fingers at Zimbabwe when there is no physical evidence supporting such speculation.”

He added: “We must follow the trail of the physical evidence all the way to its logical conclusion. To unravel Watergate, the investigators had to follow the money and here, we need the investigators to follow the truck and its driver.”

Chinoona Mwanda, the driver of the truck involved in the crash has been charged with culpable homicide. His lawyer Chris Mhike said Mwanda was not to blame for the accident. The defence lawyer will blame the poor state of the road when Mwanda's trial begins.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com