‘Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s prime minister, has left hospital after treatment for head and neck injuries he sustained in a car crash that killed his wife,’ Al Jazeera reports.

‘Tsvangirai walked out of the hospital in Harare with senior party officials from his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Saturday, said Haru Mutasa, Al Jazeera’s southern Africa correspondent.

‘Mutasa said Tsvangirai was heading to the neighbouring country of Botswana for what MDC officials called a “proper medical check up” following Friday’s crash.  She said the prime minister could be back in Zimbabwe as early as Monday.’

It remains clear (for the public) what exactly happened. We know he and his wife were rammed by a car, killing Tsvangirai’s wife and injuring him severely, but we don’t know the exact circumstances.

Steve Hynd (also known as Cernig) who writes for Newshoggers emailed me the following:

MDC party officials have called for an investigation into the circumstances of the crash, at 4pm on Friday. The couple’s Toyota Landcruiser rolled three times after it was hit by a lorry which is understood to have swerved into their path to avoid a pothole.

ABC News in the United States cited unnamed US officials as saying the truck belonged to a contractor working for the US and British governments.

The truck, which had a USAID insignia on it, was purchased by US government funds and its driver was hired by a British development agency, the report said. USAID stands for the US Agency for International Development.

State media in Zimbabwe had earlier reported that the lorry involved in the incident belonged to the US government aid organisation, USAID, and was carrying Aids medicines to Harare. A US Embassy official in the capital confirmed that the vehicle had been contracted to USAID…

Movement for Democratic Change leaders in neighbouring South Africa said they suspected the head on collision with a lorry which left Prime Minister Mr Tsvangirai injured and his wife Susan dead was not a genuine accident.

In a statement released on Friday night, they said: “We suspect that this is not a genuine accident and we appeal to Zimbabweans in South Africa to remain calm as facts continue to surface.

Conspiracy theories have already surfaced. ‘Rumours flew around the country, and its million-strong
diaspora, on Friday night that the accident was in fact an assassination attempt on the prime minister, who was sworn in as co- leader of a unity government with President Robert Mugabe just three weeks ago. It isn’t exactly surprising that Zimbabweans are paranoid: Mugabe may once have been a true African hero for freedom but he is more of an aspiring dictator now.

Steve’s thoughts (be sure to read this post, he makes an interesting link to the war in Afghanistan – definitely food for thought) on the above:

Accidents can happen, even in the middle of a series of similiar non-accidents. But when they do, you’ll have the devil of a job convincing locals that they were truly un-meant. This is just one such, and the conspiracy theories have started already – feeding mistrust and uncertainty about the motives of big powers at a crucial time. That ends up hurting everyone, especially those most in need of help.

Imagine how much worse it is when there’s a series of accidents that are almost non-accidents themselves simply because the perpetrators don’t care enough to make sure accidents don’t happen. The rumors of conspiracies, of punishment by evil people, of colonial meddling, become a primary source of insurgency and illwill that no amount of careful “information management” can spin.

We can only hope that Tsvangirai will return to Zimbabwe ASAP. The country’s economy has been ruined by Mugabe who refuses to give up most of his power but he agreed to a deal last year nonetheless. It is of the utmost importance for both Tsvangirai and Zimbabwe that he’ll return within a couple of days. The country isn’t stable in any possible way; economically nor politically. All sides need to work with each other, all major leaders need to cooperate.