Caiphas Chimhete
21 October 2008
THE body of a senior Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) official, Ignatius Mushangwe, who went missing during the run-up to the violent June 27 election run-off, was discovered by relatives in a mortuary in Norton last week -- five months after his disappearance.
Authoritative sources and close relatives told The Standard that Mushangwe, who was ZEC's director of polling and training, went missing on June 10 after attending a heated meeting of the multi-party liaison committee that comprised Zanu PF, MDC, police and the army.
His disfigured body, said relatives, was positively identified by his wife in the mortuary, after they had received a telephone call from Harare Central Police Station.
"What I know is that he went missing after attending a multi-party liaison meeting on June 10. That day he was supposed to travel to Masvingo to see his brother who was not feeling well. So, when he did not turn up, we thought he had gone to Masvingo," said a close relative, who suspected foul play.
However, a source who attended the multi-party liaison meeting, said on the day of the meeting Mushangwe had clashed with senior security officers after he told the meeting that ZEC would only issue out postal ballots to officers who would be on duty.
The source said the following week, when the committee met, Mushangwe was not present; neither was his deputy representing ZEC. Other members asked about his whereabouts but one official reportedly told the meeting in vernacular: "Hamuchafi makamuona futi (You won't see him again)".
"This is when we started suspecting that something terrible might have happened," said the source.
Efforts to get a comment from the named official were fruitless as he was said to be out of the country on national duty.
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