FORMER Zimbabwe envoy to the US and Zanu PF stalwart, ambassador Amos Midzi has died, in a suspected suicide case.
National police spokesperson Charity Charamba has since confirmed the death, saying cops were at the scene investigating.
Amos Bernard Muvenga Midzi was born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on July 4 in 1952 and was raised in both Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (now Malawi). He was married to Hilda Alice Midzi and they had three children together.
Police said Midzi was found dead in his car at his Marirangwe farm outside Harare Tuesday morning.
Midzi's body was found at the backseat with his legs stretched in-between the front seats where gear lever is positioned
Sources said cops battled to retrieve the body as it was locked inside the car. Police could not find the keys on the scene. They broke the door to get to his body.
The car keys were found hidden under the vehicle carpet. Also found in the car were yet to be identified pills, sources said. They were described as small and blue in colour.
Amos Midzi brother, Stanley, said the blue pills found in the car were purchased on the 29th of May.
"The family has lost a pillar. I will leave it to the Zanu PF Harare province who worked with him to speak more on how they related together." said Stanley.
After some time, police eventually moved his body from the car which was situated in a bushy part of the farm. A police truck was made available to collect the body. There was no road leading to where Midzi's car was found.
Also found on Midzi's lifeless body was $282. The notes were in different pockets.
The former Harare provincial chairperson, who was a strong ally of the ousted VP Joice Mujuru, was removed from his position after he was accused of fanning factionalism in the capital.
He was one of the absentees at the official opening of the Zanu PF December congress.
Sources said it is suspected that Midzi committed suicide by taking poison in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Police homicide and forensic experts were at the scene carrying out investigations this morning.
Preliminary investigations suggest suicide by poisoning as the area surrounding the vehicle is filled with odour of a suspected pesticide, though some still suspect foul play.
The farm manager says he last saw Midzi alive at 2300hrs when they held a meeting, adding after that the deceased left claiming to visit a neighbour before returning home.
Pathologists have also visited the scene.
Close family friends say the troubled politician was heavily indebted with most assets under the hammer.
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said they had lost "a member who fought hard to ensure the party had a presence in Harare". Khaya Moyo said the fact that Midzi worked for the government as both diplomat and minister showed that he had "the party and the country at heart."
Born in 1952, Midzi served as energy and as mines minister.
Mourners gathered at 857 Nursery Road. Mount Pleasant.
Before meeting his creator, Midzi and other several senior Zanu PF officials were accused in the run up to the party's elective congress last December to have allegedly hatched a plan to topple 91 year-old President Robert Mugabe.
But in a turn of events, the officials, who included former party spokesman Rugare Gumbo, and former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, were sidelined, attacked by President Mugabe and his wife, Grace, and other party leaders for fanning factionalism in an attempt to get rid of the president.
They have all denied any wrong doing, saying this was a scheme hatched by another faction of the party allegedly led by now Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take control of Zanu PF in a succession battle pitting him and the deposed vice president.
In 1993, Midzi was assigned to the position of Zimbabwe's ambassador to the United States. In March 2002, Midzi ran for the position of mayor of Harare losing to the MDC’s Elias Mudzuri.
He was appointed Minister of Energy and Power Development in 2002 before being named Minister of Mines and Mining Development in 2004 till 2009. He was Zanu-PF Harare provincial chairman from 2008 to 2014, and lost his post after a vote of no confidence was passed on him. He was chucked from the party last month. Midzi was a Member of Parliament for Epworth at the time of his death.
National police spokesperson Charity Charamba has since confirmed the death, saying cops were at the scene investigating.
Amos Bernard Muvenga Midzi was born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on July 4 in 1952 and was raised in both Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (now Malawi). He was married to Hilda Alice Midzi and they had three children together.
Police said Midzi was found dead in his car at his Marirangwe farm outside Harare Tuesday morning.
Midzi's body was found at the backseat with his legs stretched in-between the front seats where gear lever is positioned
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| Latest on fired Zanu PF Chairman Amos Midzi who was found dead in car backseat |
The car keys were found hidden under the vehicle carpet. Also found in the car were yet to be identified pills, sources said. They were described as small and blue in colour.
Amos Midzi brother, Stanley, said the blue pills found in the car were purchased on the 29th of May.
"The family has lost a pillar. I will leave it to the Zanu PF Harare province who worked with him to speak more on how they related together." said Stanley.
After some time, police eventually moved his body from the car which was situated in a bushy part of the farm. A police truck was made available to collect the body. There was no road leading to where Midzi's car was found.
Also found on Midzi's lifeless body was $282. The notes were in different pockets.
The former Harare provincial chairperson, who was a strong ally of the ousted VP Joice Mujuru, was removed from his position after he was accused of fanning factionalism in the capital.
He was one of the absentees at the official opening of the Zanu PF December congress.
Sources said it is suspected that Midzi committed suicide by taking poison in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Police homicide and forensic experts were at the scene carrying out investigations this morning.
Preliminary investigations suggest suicide by poisoning as the area surrounding the vehicle is filled with odour of a suspected pesticide, though some still suspect foul play.
The farm manager says he last saw Midzi alive at 2300hrs when they held a meeting, adding after that the deceased left claiming to visit a neighbour before returning home.
Pathologists have also visited the scene.
Close family friends say the troubled politician was heavily indebted with most assets under the hammer.
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said they had lost "a member who fought hard to ensure the party had a presence in Harare". Khaya Moyo said the fact that Midzi worked for the government as both diplomat and minister showed that he had "the party and the country at heart."
Born in 1952, Midzi served as energy and as mines minister.
Mourners gathered at 857 Nursery Road. Mount Pleasant.
Before meeting his creator, Midzi and other several senior Zanu PF officials were accused in the run up to the party's elective congress last December to have allegedly hatched a plan to topple 91 year-old President Robert Mugabe.
But in a turn of events, the officials, who included former party spokesman Rugare Gumbo, and former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, were sidelined, attacked by President Mugabe and his wife, Grace, and other party leaders for fanning factionalism in an attempt to get rid of the president.
They have all denied any wrong doing, saying this was a scheme hatched by another faction of the party allegedly led by now Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take control of Zanu PF in a succession battle pitting him and the deposed vice president.
In 1993, Midzi was assigned to the position of Zimbabwe's ambassador to the United States. In March 2002, Midzi ran for the position of mayor of Harare losing to the MDC’s Elias Mudzuri.
He was appointed Minister of Energy and Power Development in 2002 before being named Minister of Mines and Mining Development in 2004 till 2009. He was Zanu-PF Harare provincial chairman from 2008 to 2014, and lost his post after a vote of no confidence was passed on him. He was chucked from the party last month. Midzi was a Member of Parliament for Epworth at the time of his death.
