Former Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) Director-General, Happyton Bonyongwe, has shed light on the events surrounding the mysterious tragic car accident involving then-Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in March 2009, an accident that claimed the life of his wife of 31 years, Susan.
In his memoirs, One Among Many: My contribution to the Zimbabwean story, Bonyongwe details the high tensions that arose between the CIO and medical professionals at Avenues Clinic in Harare following the incident.
The accident occurred approximately 50km south of Harare, along the deteriorated Harare-Masvingo highway, as Tsvangirai travelled to his rural home in Buhera. A foreign aid truck collided with Tsvangirai’s Land Cruiser, causing the vehicle to overturn. Susan Tsvangirai, married to Morgan for 31 years, tragically perished in the crash.
Bonyongwe, who was among the first to learn of the event due to the CIO officers assigned to Tsvangirai’s protection detail, recounts his immediate actions: “I contacted (the late former president Robert) Mugabe and briefed him. He then asked me to make arrangements for him to visit Tsvangirai in the hospital.” This contact with Mugabe highlights the immediate political significance attached to the event.
The aftermath of the accident, however, was far from straightforward. Bonyongwe describes the atmosphere at Avenues Clinic as highly charged: “The Avenues Clinic had provided the base of the Doctors for Human Rights and therefore relations between the Service and the Hospital were not very good. The senior doctors who supported the opposition all descended on the hospital. They wanted to save Tsvangirai whom they suspected had survived an assassination attempt by the CIO.”
This suspicion, that the accident was a deliberate attempt on Tsvangirai’s life, created significant friction between the CIO and the medical staff.
The tension escalated further during a late-night encounter between Bonyongwe and the doctors: “My exchanges with them at around 11.00 p.m. were quite tense. Their view was that the CIO security details should have taken the bullet for the chief, and the CIO vehicle should have driven into the vehicle which had rammed Tsvangirai’s car the moment they saw suspicious movement. I replied that this was not possible, otherwise, CIO vehicles would ram all on-coming traffic, not knowing which one would hit the principal’s car. My rationale was rejected.” This exchange reveals the deep mistrust and conflicting perspectives surrounding the incident.
However, the situation was dramatically defused by a crucial piece of information: “Fortunately, before Mugabe’s arrival, information came through that it was an American Embassy vehicle which had hit the MDC leader’s car.” This revelation, given the MDC’s close ties with the United States, significantly altered the perception of the event, shifting the focus away from a potential CIO assassination plot.
Bonyongwe describes the subsequent visit by President Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace: “Robert and Grace Mugabe arrived and I led them to see Tsvangirai, where they expressed very genuine sympathy, and in my assessment the bereaved and wounded opposition leader was pleased to be consoled by the President and the First Lady. Mugabe also attended Susan’s funeral service at the Methodist Church in Mabelreign, Harare, and gave a speech. My deputy, Menard Muzariri, attended the burial in Buhera, and had the opportunity to convey the service’s condolences to Tsvangirai.”
This account highlights the unusual level of cross-political interaction during a period of significant political tension.
Reflecting on the broader implications of the incident and the political climate of the time, Bonyongwe offers insightful commentary on state security and the Global Political Agreement (GPA): “This would have been inconceivable before the GPA (Global Political Agreement), which went a very long way toward lowering tensions in Zimbabwe. Having a fully functional civil service built on Commonwealth traditions was a very good thing. Even though the political environment in Zimbabwe was polarised, the civil service did well in servicing the Inclusive Government. During the early days, there was much suspicion, but eventually Tsvangirai chose to travel with properly trained professional CIO security details rather than his own MDC security personnel.”
He concludes the Tsvangirai’s mysterious accident topic with a proposal for reforming the security apparatus: “I have always thought that the State should provide security or outside government. Security should not be a status symbol, but provided on the details to any citizen assessed as being vulnerable, regardless of whether they are in or outside government. Security should not be status symbol, but provided on the basis of threat levels by as assessed by the country’s security agency. The mushrooming of some pseudo-security companies and the proliferation of firearms would also be curtailed by such a move.”
The account provides a fascinating insight into a pivotal moment in Zimbabwean history, highlighting the complexities of political relationships and the often-unseen tensions beneath the surface of public events.
