Joshua Nkomo’s Daughter Claims MaFuyana Was Poisoned in 1999
HARARE — Thandiwe Nkomo-Ibrahim, daughter of the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo, has alleged that her mother, Johanna “MaFuyana” Nkomo, was poisoned in 1999.
The sensational claim was made in an interview with Amakhosikazi Media, an online platform. Although the interview was conducted in 2020, a nearly two-minute clip containing the allegation has resurfaced and gone viral on social media this week.
In the interview, Ibrahim claimed her mother was visited by a group of ZANU-PF Women’s League members at her home at Matsheumhlophe in Bulawayo saying they wanted to spend the day with her.
“When I got home they were singing and dancing. I later went back to Blue Lagoon and received a call that my mother was not feeling well,” she said.
She said she rushed back home and found her mother in the bedroom, struggling and stripped of her blouse.
“She was with her driver and a female bodyguard. The issue of the bodyguard surprised us because when dad was alive she never had a bodyguard,” she said.
Ibrahim said the driver and the bodyguard were trying to revive her mother by pouring water on her.
“When I asked what was going on, I was told that she had taken just one bite of the food that had been dished out by the Women’s League members and started choking,” she claimed.
“When I touched her body it was already cold. I asked why couldn’t they take her to Mater Dei Hospital, which was just around the corner and there were plenty of cars to do that, they said they were waiting for permission from Harare,” she said.
Official records state that MaFuyana died of stomach pains on March 3, 1999, and was declared a national heroine. She is buried at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.
No post-mortem report or official medical record confirming poisoning has ever been made public.
ZANU-PF and the Women’s League have not responded to the allegations.
The resurfacing of the clip has reignited debate on social media about the deaths of several nationalist figures after independence.