-The New Josiah Tongogara, Marry Chiwenga – Bomb Victim Forgotten by History.
-How Marry Chiwenga found herself bombed and abused like Josiah Tongogara, Douglas Munatsi, And ED Posed For Photoshoot Exactly Like 1979.
By A Correspondent | ZimEye | In a country scarred by political intrigue, violence, and unresolved tragedies, the story of Marry Chiwenga, wife of Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, pops off unresolved injustices that have shaped the nation. Marry’s life took a harrowing turn on June 23, 2018, during an attack that eerily mirrors the tragic fates of historical figures Josiah Tongogara and Douglas Munatsi.
The Bombing at White City Stadium.
On that fateful day in Bulawayo, Marry Chiwenga, alongside her husband and President Emmerson Mnangagwa, attended a political rally at White City Stadium. As the rally concluded, a hand grenade exploded near the staircase where Mary was descending. While President Mnangagwa had already exited the area with his entourage, the blast struck those still descending, including Marry and her security detail.
The attack claimed three lives, including Marry’s bodyguard, and left many injured. Marry herself suffered severe injuries and would later develop lymphedema, a debilitating condition that has come to define her life post-bombing. The image of Marry lying in a hospital bed, her posture reminiscent of Josiah Tongogara’s after his mysterious death in 1979, has been etched into the collective memory of Zimbabweans.
Historical Parallels
The bombing that targeted Marry Chiwenga is not an isolated incident but part of a chilling pattern in Zimbabwe’s political history. Josiah Tongogara, the revered military commander of the liberation struggle, met his untimely demise under suspicious circumstances which his secretary Oppah Muchinguri uses the term “bombing” to describe them in December 1979. Decades later, in November 2021, Douglas Munatsi, a prominent businessman and the (cabinet minister level) Director of the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency, ZIDA died in a mysterious fire that forensic evidence later suggested was caused by a bomb.
These events share a striking similarity: high-profile individuals targeted, their deaths or injuries shrouded in mystery, and no meaningful investigations or accountability from the state.
Neglect and Accusations
Instead of receiving the care and justice befitting a victim of political violence, Marry Chiwenga found herself marginalized and accused. While her husband received treatment for his condition abroad, Mary was left in Zimbabwe, grappling with her injuries and the government’s neglect.
Adding insult to injury, instead of investigating the perpetrators of the 2018 bombing, the government has opened cases accusing Mary of attempting to harm her own husband. These accusations, viewed by many as politically motivated, have overshadowed her status as a victim of an attack that nearly claimed her life.
The Fourth Victim: Sylvia Maphosa
Mary’s story is part of a larger narrative of state-sanctioned violence and the silencing of victims. On August 1, 2018, Sylvia Maphosa, a ZANU-PF member and government worker, was shot dead during post-election violence. Like Mary, Sylvia was falsely accused of being a supporter of opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. Instead of prosecuting those responsible for her death, the government sought to discredit her and others killed in the same attack.
A Legacy of Injustice
The bombing at White City Stadium, much like the deaths of Tongogara and Munatsi, remains unresolved. Video evidence showing the hand grenade being thrown has not led to any arrests. Instead, the victims and their families are left to grapple with unanswered questions and unhealed wounds.
At a time when the characters who bombed Marry at White City are walking scot-free, on 17 January 2025, the National Prosecution Service is pursuing charges against the attack’s first victim – she is being accused of attempted murder on her husband over a Johannesburg hospital incident, the same South African doctors have dismissed as baseless.
Marry Chiwenga’s story is not just her own—it is a reflection of Zimbabwe’s troubled history, where political violence is met with impunity, and victims are forgotten or vilified. As the nation marks over four decades of independence, the unresolved tragedies of Marry, Tongogara, Munatsi, and Maphosa demand not just remembrance but justice.
Marry Chiwenga’s journey from a hero’s wife to a forgotten victim serves as a poignant reminder of the cost of silence in the face of injustice. Her life, and the lives of others who suffered similar fates, underscore the need for accountability and transparency in a country where history continues to repeat itself.
To date, State Prosecutors are ignoring the killers caught on camera trying to end Marry’s life, and have instead opened a case against her to state that is the killer.
If Marry Chiwenga wanted to kill her husband, would she do it 2,000 km away in SA, if the govt’s prosecutors’ accusations are to be believed?- ZimEye