Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who is also secretary-general of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, emerged unhurt late Tuesday from a vehicle accident, a party spokesman said.
Biti has been credited with checking the spectacular Zimbabwean economic collapse since taking office a year ago in the country’s power-sharing government between Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s autocratic leader for the last 30 years.
Biti is widely viewed as Tsvangirai’s successor but is said to have many enemies in Mugabe’s wing of the joint government.
The spokesman said the accident occurred soon after sunset, near the small town of Chegutu about 100 kilometres west of Harare.
Despite not being injured, Biti was admitted to a hospital for observation.
The circumstances of the accident were not clear, nor was it yet known if anyone else was hurt.
On March 2, 2009, Tsvangirai escaped with injuries from a vehicle collision on one of the country’s run-down main highways, and his wife, Susan, was killed.
The incident was followed by rampant speculation that the accident was engineered by Mugabe’s secret police, despite Tsvangirai’s assertion that the collision was an accident.
Source: Sapa online
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