Bennett: A tragic end for Mugabe’s dare-devil defier

(FILES) This file photo taken on June 28, 2005 shows Roy Bennett, the Zimbabwean former opposition lawmaker who was jailed for shoving a minister to the ground during a parliamentary debate, standing with his wife Heather after being released from prison in Harare. PHOTO I AFP

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Nicknamed ‘Pachedu’ (a Shona word that translates as “between us”), Bennet perished in a helicopter crash in a ¬remote northern part of the US state of New Mexico, near the town of Raton on Wednesday night.

        Dar es Salaam. To many in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe’s farming community of Chimanimani District, the tragic death in a plane crash Wednesday of Roy Bennet was the heaviest blow in a series of misfortunes that had over the years befallen the outspoken former opposition leader – the Shona-speaking ‘mzungu’ farmer who spent a significant part of his political life dare devilishly standing up to the brutal dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.

Nicknamed ‘Pachedu’ (a Shona word that translates as “between us”), Bennet perished in a helicopter crash in a ¬remote northern part of the US state of New Mexico, near the town of Raton on Wednesday night.

The exiled 60-year-old Zimbabwean leader died along with his wife, Heather, 55.

He was hounded out of the country at the height of political tension in Zimbabwe as then-president Mugabe sought to buttress his stranglehold on power, amid growing pressure from the Morgan Tsvangirai-led opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Bennett, who had endeared himself to a good number of Zimbabweans for his fight for the rights of blacks, was once the party’s treasurer-general and Member of Parliament.

To many a controversial figure, the farmer-cum-politician entered politics in 2000, winning a rural parliamentary seat for the then-newly formed MDC.

His victory came as a major surprise to many. At the time, the ruling party had a stranglehold on rural areas and had gone on a demonisation campaign of the country’s white minority.

But unsurprisingly, his popularity led to President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party holding him in particular disdain.

Thorn in Mugabe’s side

The party’s dislike for the successful coffee farmer particularly came to light in 2009 when the regime accused him of involvement in an alleged plot to overthrow Mr Mugabe. He was cleared of treason charges the following year.

Interestingly, the charges came just the white farmer was due to take up his post as deputy agriculture minister in a new power-sharing government. Mr Mugabe vehemently refused to swear him in.

In that rollercoaster year, Mr Bennett left Zimbabwe for exile in South Africa. From there, he continued his no-holds-barred condemnation of the Mugabe regime.

But the opposition leader’s plethora of problems took the most dramatic turn in 2004 when he was imprisoned for several months after a serious parliament brawl with the country’s Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa.

The white farmer pushed the cabinet minister to the ground in a row over the land redistribution programme.

The minister had described Bennett’s forefathers as “thieves and murderers” during a parliamentary debate on land redistribution.

Before that brawl, his hugely successful coffee farm was seized by veterans of the country’s liberation war. One of Bennett’s farmworkers was killed by the invaders and Bennett’s wife, Heather, miscarried after the assault.

Emerging from prison rail-thin and scarred, he described his experience behind bars as a living hell. But that didn’t stop him.

Until his life came to a tragic end in the plane crash last week, Mr Bennett remained a vocal critic of Mugabe, who was finally ousted last November after a military takeover.

He also criticised his former party for allegedly enjoying the comforts of government while ordinary Zimbabweans suffered.

Still, in an interview with News24, deputy president of Zimbabwe’s main opposition, Mr Nelson Chamisa, described Mr Bennett’s unexpected death as “a big loss to the country’s democratic struggle”.

Mr Chamisa said that Bennett’s death was a huge blow to democracy, as the country was “on the brink of ushering in a new dispensation that he also suffered greatly to achieve”.

“Roy suffered a lot [in his attempt] to build a new Zimbabwe. He is in the league of those who lost a lot under the (Robert) Mugabe regime. He lost his farm, friends and relatives. He saw it all,” said Chamisa.

“We remember a hero, a comrade and a stalwart. In Shona we say ‘Pachedu’ (we are there for each other). He was truly one of us... I know that many Zimbabweans would want to give Roy a heroes send off. It is unfortunate that he will not see the fruits of his work. We’re truly devastated by his passing,” said Chamisa.

Bennett and his wife were “two of Zimbabwe’s greatest patriots,” said David Coltart, an opposition figure who served as minister of education in the coalition government.

A spokesman for the MDC party, Obert Gutu, also said in a statement that Mr Bennett was a charismatic and extremely popular grassroots politician and a successful commercial farmer.

“Roy was a resolute and committed fighter for democratic change in Zimbabwe,” Mr Gutu said.