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Magura Charumbira

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
ZANU-PF Bulawayo province has recommended that the party’s Bulawayo central district chairperson Cde Magura Charumbira who died in a car accident on Monday be declared a liberation hero.

Cde Charumbira (34) died on the spot at the 56km peg along the Harare-Bulawayo Road near the Norton tollgate after a Mercedes Benz in which he was a passenger rammed into a stationary haulage truck.

The driver of the light vehicle and the other passengers survived the crash.

Cde Charumbira shot to fame last year in November when he led a group of Zanu-PF youths who heckled former First Lady Mrs Grace Mugabe at a rally in Bulawayo.

Zanu-PF provincial spokesperson Cde Christopher Sibanda confirmed the development saying the province has written to the party’s Politburo.

“The provincial leadership has unanimously recommended that Cde Charumbira be declared a liberation hero and be buried at the Provincial Heroes’ Acre in Nkulumane. We haven’t met his family to discuss the issue but it is our hope that they will consent to our plans as a party,” said Cde Sibanda.

“He was a very vibrant young party member who could have done more in Zanu-PF. There are only a few people of his calibre. He was dedicated to the ethos of the party hence his death is a serious loss for us as Zanu-PF,” he said.

Cde Charumbira was thrown out of the interface rally at White City Stadium when he famously booed Mrs Mugabe as she was addressing the crowd.

He went into hiding for a few days before handing himself over to police.

He was later acquitted in court.

In May last year Cde Charumbira was stabbed in the head following violent clashes at the Zanu-PF offices in Bulawayo.

Following the clashes, he was expelled from the party only to bounce back after the November Extraordinary Central Committee meeting which resolved that all party members who were fired unprocedurally by the G40 cabal should be re-admitted.

@nqotshili