Mugabe ordered Mujuru to be put under CIO surveillance

NewsDay's lead story from WikiLeaks disclosures says President Mugabe ordered the late former army commander General Solomon Mujuru to be put under surveillance, but the CIO failed to do so. Instead the CIO reportedly informed Mujuru of the President's alleged intentions.

Mujuru is reported to have told former journalist Sydney Masamvu, who is now an analyst for the Institute of Democracy in Africa, that President Mugabe had tried to put him under CIO surveillance 3 months earlier, but that the CIO immediately informed him of the alleged plot.

Menawhile, Retired General Solomon Mujuru's death dominated debate in the House of Assembly with MDC-T legislators calling for the hiring of private investigators to ascertain circumstances surrounding the death. However, Zanu-PF MPs said it was important for legislators to respect Gen Mujuru by debating the motion sincerely without cheap politicking. Mwenezi East MP Kudakwashe Bhasikiti (Zanu-PF) moved the motion.

MDC-T legislators said they had lost faith in the State security agencies conducting the investigations. They accused Zanu-PF of having a hand in General Mujuru's death. "As far as we are concerned Gen Mujuru was a trained soldier who could not die from a candle unless if you tell us that the candle had been bewitched," Masvingo Central legislator (MDC-T) Jeffryson Chitando said.

"We should have looked for foreign investigators maybe from China, Russia or any other country. We want independent investigators." Tachiona Mharadza of Masvingo West (MDC-T) said:

"The enquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mujuru's death won't work because we have so many people who were murdered but up to now we don't know the outcome from the enquiries."

Buhera North legislator William Mutomba (Zanu-PF), however, called for unity of purpose among parliamentarians. He said there was need for MPs to learn from Gen Mujuru who treated people with dignity.