Leader of Zimbabwean farm occupations dies

Robert Mugabe loses another key ally. ALEX DUVAL SMITH reports.

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's campaign to remain in power has suffered a setback with the death of Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi.

The leader of the farm occupations which have dominated Zimbabwean politics for more than a year, was the third and most high-profile of the veteran leader's allies to die in just over a month.

Health Minister Timothy Stamps said Hunzvi died of kidney failure linked to cerebral malaria. The death, news of which prompted spontaneous cheering and clapping in office blocks in the capital of Harare, came less than a week after President Mugabe, 77, buried his loyal defence minister, Moven Mahachi.

The 52-year-old minister died in a car accident, as did, late in April, chief ruling party strategist Border Ghezi.

Opposition supporters immediately said they hoped Hunzvi's death would end the spiral of violence which has dominated Zimbabwean politics since last year.

Hunzvi, aged 51, was the chairman of the country's liberation war veterans and had led the farm invasions and violent attacks on whites and their property.

His death, coupled with that of Ghezi, places the role of Zimbabwe's armed forces firmly in the spotlight. The Army and Air Force now appear to be the President's only tool for maintaining his hold on power in the run-up to presidential elections expected next April.



And President Mugabe will have to consider the consequences of bringing 11,000 men home from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they are supporting President Joseph Kabila, to head a strong-arm election campaign. There is also a danger of warfare within the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) if Mugabe calls for Hunzvi to be buried in the hallowed Heroes' Acre, outside Harare, where Ghezi and Mahachi were given full honours.

The credentials of Hunzi, who claimed to have an impressive liberation war record, have been questioned by figures in the ruling party who fought on the front line to end Rhodesian white rule.

Despite spearheading violence on behalf of Zanu-PF and being elected an MP last year in Chikomba, he was never given a cabinet post.





It was never clear why Hunzvi, who last year appeared in court charged with defrauding the War Victims' Compensation Fund, was allowed by Mugabe to retain so much power.

Perhaps the answer lay in his effective violent campaign against members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) last year and in the land and business invasions. Up to 35 people, mostly MDC supporters, including five white farmers, died.

Political analyst Emmanuel Magade said: "Hunzvi was a very forceful figure to whom violence was an article of faith."

He said Hunzvi's reputation suffered last month when war veterans failed to prevent an MDC victory in mayoral elections in Masvingo. "With his death and after the debacle in Masvingo, the veterans and some in Zanu-PF might rethink that strategy of violence."

- INDEPENDENT