Tuesday 20 February 2018

TSVANGIRAI LAID TO REST AMID DIVISIONS AND BOOS

More an 5,000 people have attended the burial of Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in his home village after he died of colon cancer.

The burial was marred by divisions in the party he formed and led, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Crowds booed two leaders challenging the appointment of Nelson Chamisa as the party's acting president.

Mr Tsvangirai, a fierce opponent of Zanu-PF's 37-year rule, died of colon cancer on 14 February aged 65.
Kenya's main opposition leader Raila Odinga attended the burial, having previously hailed Mr Tsvangirai as someone who fought for "justice for his country and his people despite the firm hands of dictatorship that held sway".
Kenya's immigration department had barred two allies of Mr Odinga, Senator James Orengo and businessman Jimi Wanjigi, from flying to Zimbabwe for the burial, saying the pair had failed to present a court order overturning a suspension of their passports.
The department later reversed its decision.
 Tsvangirai was lowered to his final resting place, beside his first wife Susan, in Buhera, some 200km (124 miles) from the capital, Harare.
Even in grief, the tensions within the MDC are apparent, as rival factions battle for control of the party, reports the BBC's Shingai Nyoka from Harare.
MDC vice-president Thokozani Khupe and secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora were booed by some mourners for opposing Mr Chamisa's appointment as acting party leader.
Some believe the MDC could split following Mr Tsvangirai's death, while others say it could re-energise itself under a new leadership. BBC

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