Police in Masvingo yesterday briefly dispersed vendors and informal foreign currency dealers at the city’s main cross-border bus terminus ahead of the anticipated passage of the body of outspoken war veteran and anti-corruption campaigner Blessed Geza.
Unbeknown to the state security agents, Geza’s body had already passed through and was heading towards Mvuma by the time police, accompanied by dogs, swept through the area, dispersing vendors and people who had gathered to witness the cortege.
The body of Geza, who died last week in South Africa, crossed into Zimbabwe via the Beitbridge border post earlier yesterday and was transported by convoy towards Harare.
However, the repatriation process faced complications at the border.
Well-placed sources disclosed that officers from the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) ordered the war veteran’s family to the coffin to ascertain that it was indeed Geza’s body inside.
According to sources, about eight men delayed the repatriation process by demanding visual confirmation of the body—a move that shocked even the funeral assurance company, which was handling the repatriation.
“Yes, it’s true, they forced the family to access the body to confirm if it was indeed Geza’s body,” a well-placed source said.
Geza’s family had earlier issued a travel plan that would have seen the body pass through Masvingo, Mvuma, Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma, and Chegutu before finally arriving in Harare.
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The plan was, however, aborted following the hostile reception by state agents in Masvingo, with the body instead taken directly to Harare.
This publication witnessed police moving through the terminus, popularly known as Exor, shortly before the time the convoy was expected to arrive, ordering people — including vendors and forex dealers — to clear the vicinity.
The police officers used baton sticks and dogs to drive people away.
Business resumed 20 to 30 minutes after someone informed the crowd that Geza’s body had already passed.
There were no reports of arrests or injuries.
Geza was a liberation war veteran who, in recent years, became an outspoken critic of corruption and a vocal opponent of plans to extend Mnangagwa’s tenure beyond constitutional limits.
His activism drew support from some factions within the war veterans’ community and from pro-democracy activists.
Geza died in exile after the Zimbabwe Republic Police issued a statement in February last year indicating its intention to arrest him for allegedly undermining the government.
This followed a series of press conferences in which Geza called for the removal of Mnangagwa, accusing him of failing to uphold the ideals of the liberation struggle.
He also accused Mnangagwa of leading a cartel of corrupt allies, who were looting the country’s resources.
Fearing for his safety, Geza fled the country in February last year and launched a YouTube channel, where he continued to expose alleged corruption within Mnangagwa’s government and mobilised citizens to rise against the Zanu PF leader in order to “save the country from imminent collapse.”
Geza is expected to be buried at his farm in Sanyati, Mashonaland West province.
Zanu PF spoken Christopher Mutsvangwa said Geza deserved a national hero status, but Mnangagwa and his government have not commented on the war veteran’s death a week later.
