It is considered unAfrican to speak ill of the dead but for villagers in Makoni District, the death of infamous war veteran Nathaniel Mhiriripiri has given them a chance to relive their tortured past.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Mhiripiri was found dead on March 14 at a Rusape farm and a bullet was allegedly found lodged in his skull. He had been missing for three days.
The cause of his death remains a mystery but only a few people care. for many, the adage that those who live by the sword die by the sword rings true.
Mhiripiri, who was the Zanu PF secretary for labour in Manicaland, was feared throughout the province for allegedly being the ruling party’s hatchet man, especially during the dark period that followed President Robert Mugabe’s shock defeat to MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008.
The former fighter led a Zanu PF militia that campaigned for Mugabe in the run-up to the ill-fated presidential run-off poll where the 93-year-old ruler eventually ran unopposed after Tsvangirai pulled out to save the lives of his supporters.
A fortnight after his death, people still speak about Mhiripiri in hushed tones. Some of the people that told vivid tales about his reign of terror were newspaper vendors that saw firsthand his darker side.
Mhiripiri imposed a ban on independent newspapers in Rusape, accusing them of reporting negatively about Zanu PF.
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He often enforced his “ban” by burning piles of the newspapers before they could be put on the streets for sale.
The vendors remember often seeing Mhiripiri walking around Rusape town brandishing guns.
Although he operated in several parts of Makoni district, those in Makoni South constituency remember him for leading the brutal 2008 presidential election run-off campaign resulting in most opposition supporters fleeing their homesteads to stay in mountains for months.
Happymore Mavhezha recalls how a gun-toting Mhiripiri stormed a church service accompanied by his militia as he tried to seize him for supporting MDC-T.
Mavhezha said three weeks before the June 29 run-off election, he was attending a church service at St Thomas Mavhezha Anglican Church in headman Nyama’s area when the war veteran tried to kidnap him.
“It was drama,” he recalled. “The church service was disrupted and had it not been for the fact that the whole church stood by me, he could have achieved what he wanted.”
He said a neighbour; Maxwell Kabangure was picked at gun point while doing household chores and was force-marched to the church service.
“Kabangure entered the church building with unfamiliar faces and intruders that stood by the door while others were outside,” Mavhezha said.
“He looked very scruffy and all they wanted was for him to come and take me outside but when Kabangure entered the church I thought he had lost his mind.
“He just came and stood where I was sitting and his face looked different with tears almost flowing from his eyes.”
He added: “He couldn’t say a word because the person I was sitting next to was a known Zanu PF supporter. Sensing that something was not right, one of the ladies stood up and started singing a chorus as if to show how much the pastor’s sermon was being well-received.
“Everyone joined in and the pastor realised something was wrong and he stopped preaching because of the noise.
“Kabangure whispered to me that Mhiripiri was waiting for me outside with several gun-wielding men. He said I was supposed to flee and never set foot in the village again.”
Mavhezha managed to flee Mhiripiri’s militia that was charging towards him by using a church entrance usually reserved for the pastor. The whole church was terrified after they got a glimpse of the guns.
Mavhezha said he took to his heels in a direction that Mhiripiri and his men did not anticipate. He escaped to a nearby village where he managed to mobilise youths to launch a fight back as he feared his family would be in danger.
Meanwhile, part of the congregation went to his house under Mhiripiri’s orders as he vowed not to release them until Mavhezha handed himself in.
More drama was to unfold when the angry youths besieged Mavhezha’s house at a time Mhiripiri and his crew least expected.
He said some youths managed to divert attention by shouting that Mhiripiri’s car was being set alight.
Mavhezha said although Mhiripiri and his team fired gunshots in the air, they fought back to drive the assailants out. He said this marked the beginning of a reign of terror in the village.
Others who corroborated his story said a few days later Mhiripiri and his team stopped a bus at Chitenderano business centre after learning that Mavhezha and some youths were passengers.
Passengers were ordered to disembark and after they failed to identify their prey, Mhiripiri and his team started assaulting all people that were on the bus. Some passengers suffered serious injuries after the assault.
In ward 28, former MDC-T councillor Antony Chiguwari said he spent about three months without sleeping in his house after Mhiripiri and about 30 men visited his homestead on June 19 2008.
“I knew Mhiripiri from childhood. During the war he was fighting in Ian Smith’s corner and after the war he continued with his behaviour,” said Chiguwari.
“One day Mhiripiri came with a group of about 30 men and some were his relatives dressed in army and police uniforms.
“Those in army uniform, although they were not soldiers, were carrying guns. They arrived at my house at about 00:30am and started knocking at the door. I peeped through the window and saw Mhiripiri.”
Chiguwari said he knew the militia had come to harass him because he had won the council elections in March that year.
“They knocked at my door and called my name but there was dead silence as if there were no people. It was a single room. When I realised they were breaking the door I went and stood just behind it,” he said.
“When the door broke, one of Mhiripiri’s relatives called Mark wanted to reach out to my wife, and that is when I jumped at him. He lost his gun and we fought.
“His colleagues were standing a few metres away and I am sure they were not so clear as to what was happening inside.
“As my wife was crying, my children brought some brick moulders and threw them right in his face. I am grateful to them. The situation was so bad that if we didn’t fight back, one of us would be dead by now.”
Chiguwari added: “As he cried for help, one shot was fired in the air by those outside and we were all scared. We left him and as he dashed outside, he fired one shot. Another shot was fired from outside and for a second I thought my family was gone.”
He said Mhiripiri and his militia eventually left but not before warning him that his problems had just begun.
Chiguwari said as he was pondering the next move, the militia returned with his mother and ailing sister who stayed a few metres away.
“For a second I thought they wanted to destroy all of us but they were looking for a beret and shoe they had lost in the scuffle. They left after getting their things,” he said.
“I had to go into hiding and I spent several weeks sleeping in a nearby mountain while my family moved to another area.”
Another villager, Loveness Makaure, who was ward 27 MDC-T councillor at the time, said she had to flee to Bulawayo with her children for about three months after Mhiripiri and his team pounced on her.
She said most of her household property was stolen when she fled.
At every business centre where the news crew stopped, people said they felt relieved that Mhiripiri was dead because they feared 2018 elections were going to be bloody.
The opposition supporters said although they did not wish him dead, his violent death was a lesson to others who may want to follow in his footsteps.
Others said they wanted Zanu PF to apologise on Mhiripiri’s behalf for the torture he inflicted on innocent people.
Some villagers said they were hired to work at the war veteran’s farm but were never paid. They said they would not dare ask for their dues.
Former Makoni South legislator Pishai Muchauraya accused Mhiripiri of stealing 45 asbestos sheets meant for a classroom block at Nzvimbe Primary School. Muchauraya alleged Mhiripiri chased away builders that were constructing Chikandiwa Bridge.
“We are saying he was a nasty adult whose life we don’t encourage other citizens to emulate,” he said.
“He was very violent, survived on violent exhortations and force-marching villagers to Zanu PF meetings. The society is better off without him.”
Another Headlands villager, Lastone Julius said Mhiripiri caused serious problems in the area as he targeted opposition supporters.
He said a number of people were still nursing emotional and physical scars at the hands of the late Mhiripiri.
Mhiripiri also had many public spats with other Zanu PF members, including Manicaland provincial minister Mandi Chimene over a number of issues. He was accused of being a fake war veteran.
But after his death, Zanu PF sang his praises.
“I knew him as a Zanu PF member who was hardworking and a loyal cadre.
“He would pray every morning at his farm together with his children and workers. He was a devoted Seventh day Adventist,” Zanu PF Manicaland deputy provincial chairperson Joseph Mujati claimed.
Several known Zanu PF activists involved in the violent election campaigns have never been prosecuted despite widespread media reports about their activities.
