Tonderai Ndira

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Tonderai Ndira (1975 or 1976 – May 2008) was a Zimbabwean political dissident murdered in May 2008.^{[1] [2]}

Ndira lived in Mabvuku, Zimbabwe, and was an "prominent activist"^[3] member of the Movement for Democratic Change. He was described by a human rights campaigner as "a youth activist who went around the country holding workshops and teaching people their rights".^[4]

He was arrested on thirty-five occasions, and was reportedly described by his followers as "Zimbabwe's Steve Biko".^[5][6][7]

The Sunday Herald reported:

"Ndira was legendary in Zimbabwe for his exploits. Once when police were hot on his tail, he famously joined the police search for himself, establishing himself at the heart of the search party without the police ever realising."^[5]

He was abducted from his home by ten armed men early in the morning of May 13, 2008, in the context of campaigning between the two rounds of the 2008 presidential election. His body was found later in the month; it was reported that he had been shot in the heart, with multiple stab wounds, his eyes gouged, his tongue cut out, and his neck, skull, jaw and knuckles broken.^[4][5] The Sunday Herald stated that he had been "murdered by government death squads", and added:

"Ndira's fate has been shared by scores of opposition supporters in recent weeks. He was targeted because of his celebrity and because fear is exactly what the generals and security chiefs of 84-year-old Mugabe are counting on, as they try to overturn the first-round defeat that saw at least 56% of Zimbabwe's people vote against the only head of state they have known since independence."^[5]

The autopsy's preliminary report failed to identify a cause of death. It showed that the damage to Ndira's body was due to decomposition rather than torture; due to the amount of time necessary for this degree of decomposition, it was believed that he was killed promptly after being abducted. Some speculated that the inability to determine a cause of death meant that he had been suffocated.^[8]

Following the discovery of his body on May 22, Ndira was buried at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare on May 25. MDC party president Morgan Tsvangirai, who had returned to Zimbabwe shortly beforehand, presided over the funeral and described Ndira's killing as "a clear testimony of the callousness of this regime", vowing to defeat Mugabe in the election despite such violence.^[8]

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