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A TOP MDC-T official is now confirmed dead after last Thursday’s building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria, that killed 80 Christian tourists who were guests of the Nigerian preacher, TB Joshua.
Greenwich Ndanga, the MDC-T’s Mashonaland West provincial chairman, died after the six-storey building crumbled to the ground, the Voice of America’s Studio 7 reported last night, sighting his family and a party official.

The MDC-T’s provincial secretary for parliamentary affairs, Stewart Garadhi, told the radio station that they were “waiting to hear about the repatriation of Ndanga’s body so funeral arrangements can be made.”

Ndanga is the first confirmed Zimbabwean casualty of the building collapse, with 67 South Africans confirmed as having died. More than 130 people were rescued from the rubble.

Foreign Affairs secretary Joey Bimha yesterday said they were still waiting for word from Zimbabwe’s embassy to the populous West African country to confirm if any nationals were among the dead.

Joshua had not directly commented on the deaths and had only published Bible quotations on his Facebook site and Twitter account.
But in a statement he extended his sympathies to victims’ families and described those who died as “martyrs of the Kingdom of God”.

“The pain of one is the pain of all. It is indeed a sad and painful moment for the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones,” he said.

“To all those who lost family members and loved ones, please accept our heartfelt commiserations.”

Joshua said “Nigerians, South Africans and citizens of other nations were affected” but did not specify which countries or say whether they were among the dead, 131 injured or both.

South Africa’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, said 17 of his compatriots were unaccounted for and the church had set up a hotline in Johannesburg for concerned relatives.

TB Joshua inspires an almost fanatical devotion from his thousands of followers around the world, who are drawn to his services by claims of miracle-working and prophecies.

But rescue workers have complained of a lack of cooperation from Joshua and the church authorities, which included preventing the emergency services from accessing the site until Sunday.

The southwest coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) said SCOAN officials had not disclosed the identities and nationalities of those in the building at the time.

Joshua rejected the lack of cooperation claims as “inaccurate”.

“Contrary to this, we want to categorically state that the church has provided assistance when and where required and continues to do so: good Christians are good citizens,” he said.

Joshua has stuck to his theory of possible aerial sabotage. The preacher, whose followers include heads of state and top-level politicians such as Malawi’s former president Joyce Banda and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, again suggested that a low-flying aircraft may have been to blame.

“This incident was preceded by the appearance of a strange aircraft which flew very low over the building four times and then disappeared,” he stated.

“The church views this tragedy as part of an attack on The Synagogue Church Of All Nations and in particular Prophet TB Joshua. In due course, God will reveal the perpetrators of this unfortunate tragedy.”

Ndanga’s death is confirmation that some Zimbabweans continue to defy a travel warning by Health Minister David Parirenyatwa who urged Zimbabweans to suspend travel to West Africa unless when absolutely necessary in the wake of an Ebola outbreak which was yesterday declared a “threat to international peace and security”. The disease has so far killed 2,630 people mostly in Guinea, neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia. It has also spread to Senegal and Nigeria. – Chronicle Reporter/AFP