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Ex-Zanu-PF Harare chairman found dead

The late Amos Midzi, the car in which he was found and police officers ready to collect the body at his farm near Harare yesterday

Harare Bureau
FORMER Zanu-PF Harare provincial chairman Cde Amos Midzi has been found dead, with bottles containing poisonous substances next to him in his car.

Police were called to Munandi Farm in Beatrice yesterday morning after reports that the politician was unresponsive inside his Ford Everest vehicle whose doors were locked.

Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said: “The body was inspected and no injuries were noted. A one-litre container of a liquid, Methamidophos, which was three quarters full; Dormicum tablets and a cup containing a bluish liquid were found in the vehicle.”

Methamidophos is a highly toxic, highly regulated insecticide which is rapidly absorbed through the stomach, lungs and skin in humans. Consumed to a certain quantity, it can disrupt normal transmission of nerve impulses leading to death.

Dormicum, also known as Midazolam, has been used during executions in America as a sedative. It was one of the drugs found in Michael Jackson’s body after he died from an overdose of a cocktail of sleeping medication.

Cde Midzi’s brother, Stanley, said the body had been removed from the scene and taken to a hospital mortuary for post-mortem.

“The post-mortem is likely to be conducted tomorrow (today) and that’s when we’ll issue a statement to the media about the results and funeral arrangements,” he said.

A few relatives last night started gathering at Cde Midzi’s Mt Pleasant home.

Among the mourners were former Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma, ex-cabinet minister Olivia Muchena, Cde Christopher Chigumba and Cde Tendai Savanhu.

Cde Midzi once served as the Minister of Mines and Mining Development as well as Energy and Power Development.

At the time of his death, he was the ruling Zanu-PF’s legislator for Epworth constituency, and until December last year, he was also the party’s chairman for Harare province.

Born in 1952, Cde Midzi was last week suspended from Zanu-PF for allegedly aligning with former Vice President Joice Mujuru’s faction accused of plotting to unseat President Robert Mugabe.

He had earlier been deposed as Zanu-PF Harare Province chairman on the same grounds.