President Robert Mugabe failed to account for ‘chema’ he had been tasked to handover to the late widow Victoria Chitepo following the death of her husband Herbert in 1975 in Lusaka.
Vesta Sithole, the widow of the late Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole makes the allegation in the book “My Life with an Unsung Hero”.
Sithole ,who played a major role in the liberation struggle claims that some of Mr Chitepo’s relatives told her that Mugabe was given chema by the Zanu Party but it never reached Victoria as planned.
“ When people heard of Mr. Chitepo’s death, they gathered in Highfield to choose a delegation to come to Zambia.I am not sure how it happened , but since Reverend Sithole was back in prison, Mr.Mugabe ended up representing the party. From what I was told by some of Mr.Chitepo’s relatives who attended this gathering, the delegation led by Mr.Mugabe was given chema-condolence money-by the party to give Mrs.Chitepo when they arrived in Lusaka.
By this time , I had arrived in Lusaka for Mr.Chitepo’s funeral.However I never saw Mr.Mugabe, his delegation , or the chema that had been collected”, Sithole writes on page 61 of the book.
Sithole also added that Comrades from the war front later told her that they say Mugabe and Tekere near the Mozambique border at the time of the funeral.
“It made me wonder why Mr.Mugabe never made it to Lusaka”, she added.
Following the death of Mrs Chitepo last week, opposition leader Tendai Biti said ZANU PF’s declaration of the late Victoria Chitepo a national heroine should not be seen as a sincere gesture as the party was responsible for the assassination of her husband, Herbert.
Victoria, who served as cabinet minister in independent Zimbabwe,was buried last week Wednesday at the National Heroes Acre.
The People’s Democratic Party President said Zanu PF leaders should not be seen shaken over the death of Victoria as they were responsible for the killing of her husband in Zambia during the liberation war.
“Zanu PF was responsible for the death of the late great Herbert Chitepo. That is why after independence they failed to hold a new inquest into his death as they were responsible for his death,” said Biti in an interview.
He added, “Zanu PF has been responsible for the death of many prominent heroes up to Rex Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru). They are not being sincere in mourning Victoria Chitepo as they should have carried out a post-independence inquest into the death of her husband but they did not as they were involved in the murder.
Herbert died on 18 March 1975 in Lusaka when a car bomb, placed in his Volkswagen Beetle a night before, exploded. He and Silas Shamiso, one of his bodyguards, were killed instantly.
