MDC Senator Patrick Kombayi dies

By Alex Bell
22 June 2009

Veteran politician and MDC senator Patrick Kombayi died in his Gweru home on Sunday, after battling for more than ten years with injuries he received at the hands of ZANU PF.

An MDC alert announcing Kombayi’s passing blamed ‘his long battle with gun wounds’ for the death. According to the party, the businessman had been unwell for several months and had traveled to South Africa for specialist treatment. Described as a “fighter, father, democrat and, more importantly, a patriotic Zimbabwean,” the MDC said the loss of Kombayi was a blow to the party.
“His contribution to the liberation of the country is beyond dispute as he was part of the breed that liberated the country,” said MDC spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa.

The Chirumhanzu Senator survived an assassination attempt in 1990, when the late ZANU PF Vice President Simon Muzenda tried to stop Kombayi from campaigning against him. Kombayi was shot and critically wounded in the attack, which left him partially disabled. One of the men convicted of shooting him, Gweru CIO Chief Elias Kanengoni, was later pardoned by Robert Mugabe.

In March 2006 Kombayi won a US$20 million defamation suit against the then rural housing Minister Emerson Mnangagwa, for making false claims about his role in the liberation struggle in a book titled: ‘Simon Vengai Muzenda’.

Meanwhile, Vice President Joseph Msika is reportedly critically ill, according to The Financial Gazette. It’s understood Msika was flown to South Africa for medical treatment during the Comesa Summit in Victoria Falls earlier this month. He was then readmitted to a private medical institution in Harare, after developing complications linked to the surgical operation he received in South Africa.

According to The Financial Gazette, Msika was confined to a high dependency unit at the private clinic, and has since been released. Msika has been keeping a low profile in recent months, and his failing health has raised speculation that he might step down from active politics altogether. ZANU PF’s national chairperson John Nkomo and Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu are now said to be leading the pack of those seeking to replace the ailing Vice President.