By A Correspondent- A top Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officer and a senior prison official were killed in a horrific road accident in Masvingo on Tuesday evening, rekindling concerns about the alarming number of unexplained deaths involving senior security service personnel since Zimbabwe’s 2017 military coup.
Gift Nyama, the CIO head for Gutu District, and Principal Correctional Officer Masimba Blessing Mandimutsira of Mutimurefu Prison died in a three-vehicle pile-up near the Mutimurefu Prison Bus Stop along the Masvingo–Mutare highway.
Nyama, who had just attended a farewell party reportedly held at 4/2 Infantry Brigade at Mpandawana Growth Point in Gutu, is said to have been driving from the event when tragedy struck. According to early reports, Nyama’s vehicle rammed into a stationary tractor abandoned in the middle of the road without lights or reflectors. While prison officers, including Mandimutsira, rushed to the scene to assist, a second vehicle—a Ford Ranger driven by Chief Superintendent Simangaliso Dube, Officer Commanding Masvingo Central District—approached at speed. In an attempt to avoid the pile-up, Dube reportedly veered off the road and struck Mandimutsira.
Nyama is said to have died instantly after breaking his neck, while Mandimutsira succumbed to his injuries at Masvingo Provincial Hospital.
Sources told The Mirror that the farewell party had been attended by high-profile figures, including Walter Manjonjo, a ZANU PF provincial youth executive member for Ward 33 in Gutu, indicating the deep political and military connections of those involved.
The crash occurred at a known black spot that has claimed the lives of two other officers in the past year. The Zimbabwe Republic Police provincial spokesperson, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa, was unavailable for comment, but Superintendent Francis Makonese, Officer-in-Charge of Prisons in Masvingo, confirmed the accident in a statement.
A Trail of Suspicious Deaths Since 2017
The deaths of Nyama and Mandimutsira add to a growing list of fatal incidents involving senior security personnel in the aftermath of the 2017 military coup that ousted long-time leader Robert Mugabe and brought President Emmerson Mnangagwa to power.
Since the coup, several high-ranking figures within the military, intelligence, and police sectors—many of whom were either aligned with or seen as potential threats to shifting power dynamics—have died under unclear or suspicious circumstances. Among them:
- Major General Trust Mugoba, former commander of the African Union standby force and a key figure in military diplomacy, died suddenly in 2019 after being recalled from Addis Ababa. His death remains shrouded in mystery.
- Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander, Air Marshal Perrance Shiri, who became Minister of Agriculture post-coup, died in 2020 from what the government claimed was COVID-19, though insiders speculated foul play amid internal ZANU PF factional battles.
- Central Intelligence Organisation Director for Internal Affairs, Mernard Muzariri, and several other CIO operatives have also died in unexplained car accidents or illnesses in recent years.
- Commander of Presidential Guard, Brigadier General Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe, was hastily redeployed abroad following the 2018 post-election shootings, widely viewed as part of a purge or relocation strategy for security heavyweights.
These deaths—often reported as accidents, sudden illnesses, or COVID-related—have sparked persistent speculation of a silent purge within the state security infrastructure, as rival factions continue to jostle for control behind the scenes of a politically fragile regime.
In this context, the death of Gift Nyama—a high-ranking CIO officer with access to sensitive national security operations—may raise more questions than answers.
A Nation on Edge
The pattern of fatalities among security sector elites feeds into broader concerns about instability, secrecy, and unresolved tensions within Zimbabwe’s post-coup establishment. With elections now concluded and internal ZANU PF power battles heating up ahead of 2028, observers warn that such deaths may not be mere coincidence.
“Zimbabwe’s security sector remains deeply factionalised and heavily politicised. Every death of a senior official must be scrutinised, especially when it involves those with knowledge of past or ongoing power struggles,” a former intelligence officer told The Mirror on condition of anonymity.
As the country continues to grapple with economic hardship, contested legitimacy, and deepening repression, the shadow of the 2017 coup looms large—its consequences still unfolding, one suspicious death at a time.