In August 2011, just as the Chibondo controversies had begun to settle, another event took place that would prove even more contentious. On 16 August 2011 Zimbabwe awoke to the news that retired General Solomon Mujuru, aka Rex Nhongo (his war alias) – former deputy commander of ZANLA and Zimbabwe's first black army commander, husband of the (then) Vice-President, Joice Mujuru, long-term confidante of President Mugabe, and widely regarded as ZANU PF's ‘kingmaker’ – had died in a mysterious fire at his farm (Alamein or Ruzambo), in Beatrice, 60 km south-west of Harare. Only four days later, on 20 August, accompanied by public statements of grief from across the political spectrum, and amid growing speculation about the cause of his death, Mujuru's remains were buried at National Heroes Acre in Harare, attended by tens of thousands of people. After the ‘inexplicable, horrendous fire accident’ – as President Mugabe then described it – there was only a ‘small pile of charred bones and ash’ to be buried, and workers reportedly needed ‘shovels to scrape his remains off the floor’. ‘Burnt beyond recognition’, unconfirmed reports suggested dental records were needed to confirm his identity; and unusually the ‘coffin remained sealed’. But the closed casket could not contain the plethora of rumours of foul play that emerged in the months that followed, which remain unresolved despite police (and later ‘private’) investigations and an official inquest.

This chapter uses Mujuru's death as way into discussing what I call ‘political accidents’ in Zimbabwe's recent history, in order to further explore the efficacies of rumours and the politics of uncertainty (begun in the previous chapter) in relation to what I term the unfinished nature of death. My purpose is not to offer any kind of determination or commentary about what might actually have happened, or who might have been responsible, but rather to explore the political salience and efficacies of the rumours, conspiracy theories and uncertainties this unresolved death provoked. I am not interested (nor could I claim any such competence) in trying to offer an explanation for what actually might have happened, or in ascertaining responsibility.