ZIMBABWE’S vice-president, Joice Mujuru, yesterday added her voice to the growing calls for a full investigation into the death of her influential husband Solomon, who died in an allegedly accidental fire at their farmhouse last week.
Although the retired army chief’s death last Tuesday at Alamein Farm in Beatrice, 60km south of Harare, was reported initially as accidental, questions surrounding it have led to suspicions he may have been murdered.
Mr Mujuru, leader of one of two Zanu-PF factions vying to take control of president Robert Mugabe’s party when the elderly leader stands down or dies, and seen as a moderate, was found burnt beyond recognition in his bedroom.
The police investigation has yet to establish the precise cause of death and how the fire began.
Within hours of Mr Mujuru’s death being made public, rumours that it was no accident began to circulate, as many people believed his Zanu-PF faction was in pole position to take over the party.
Guy Watson-Smith, former owner of the farmhouse, questioned how Mr Mujuru could not have escaped from a property “that had more doors and windows than holes in a colander”.
Subsequently, finance minister Tendai Biti of the Movement for Democratic Change suggested Zanu-PF was behind the death. The National Constitutional Assembly, an NGO drawn from civic groups, has demanded a “full, thorough and independent” investigation into it.
Shortly after the death was announced, the party’s politburo said none of its members could comment publicly on tragedy.
On Tuesday night, however, Mrs Mujuru broke ranks, saying she suspected foul play. She said it was crucial to find out what had happened to her husband between 8.30pm, when he arrived at the farm, and shortly after midnight, when the fire broke out.
Mrs Mujuru, who was not at the farm on the night of the fire, said a military man of her husband’s stature could easily have escaped from the bedroom in which his remains were found. “There are two long windows, from my side and from his side, that, if you want to go out for an emergency, you don’t have to jump out: you just lift your leg,” she said.
It is feared Mr Mujuru’s death may leave the way open for political extremism within the party to resurface. One theory holds Mr Mujuru was killed by party rivals prior to the blaze, while another suggests his enemies invaded the farmhouse and burned it to the ground while he was kept inside.