Zimbabwe: Lawyer blames poor road for death fo Tsvangirai's wife.

Text of report by London-based Zimbabwe independent Short Wave Radio Africa on 12 March

[From the 'Behind the Headlines' Programme]

The controversy over the tragic car crash which claimed the life of Susan Tsvangirai continues to rage in and outside Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, the driver of the truck that was involved in that particular crash appeared in a Chivhu court on Monday charged with culpable homicide. Thirty-five-year old Chinoona Mwanda was the driver of the Nissan UD truck that hit Tsvangirai's Land Cruiser causing it to overturn three times and landing on its roof. Human rights lawyer Chris Mhike has been hired to represent the driver and is arguing that he was not to blame for the accident, blaming instead the poor state of the road. Earlier this week I spoke to Chris Mhike who is defending the driver and asked him what happened in court?

[Begin recording] [Chris Mhike] The initial appearance in respect of the driver who was involved in a road traffic accident with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, which accident unfortunately resulted in the death of his wife. When we appeared before this court, proceedings were designed to achieve at least three objectives, the first being for the accused person to appear formally before a court of law and be made aware of the exact charges that he is facing. So, it was therefore a first appearance. But because my client had also been in custody since the date of the accident we also had to proceed to seek the restoration of his liberty through a bail application.

So, the appearance was also designed for the bail …