MSU staffer hangs after fight with wife

Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
YET ANOTHER Midlands State University (MSU) employee has committed suicide by hanging following an alleged heated argument with his wife.

Themba Manjoro who was a security officer at the university’s Zvishavane campus took his own life yesterday near Senga High Density Suburb. It is said that he told his son that he was tired of the physical and verbal abuse he suffered at the hands of his wife.

MSU Campus Police Officer in Charge Inspector Patrick Chademana confirmed Manjoro’s death but could not shed more light on the circumstances leading to it.

“We’ve received the news that he passed on but I understand that it has nothing to do with the institution. It wasn’t work related. The best persons to talk to are the relatives of the deceased. I can’t comment on issues to do with his private and personal life,” he said.

MSU spokesperson Mirirai Mawere could not comment on the matter.

However, impeccable sources said a day before he killed himself, Manjoro was allegedly summoned by Insp Chademana to Gweru for a meeting. After the alleged meeting, Manjoro was accompanied home in Senga Area 2 by his superior.

It is alleged that Manjoro then had a heated argument with his wife and the two were said to have a long standing dispute over the wife’s physical and verbal abuse.

Manjoro is alleged to have called his eldest son, Patwell informing him that he had decided to take his own life as he could no longer stomach the abuse.

“He took a long rope and went to the nearby fields between Senga and Daylesford after informing his son,” said a relative who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Relatives refused to comment advising the news crew to wait for Patwell who was said to be coming from Harare.

He is said to be the last person who spoke to his father before he committed suicide.

A mourner who claimed to be Manjoro’s workmate said Manjoro’s wife hardly gave him food and he depended on handouts from friends and colleagues.

“Manjoro was like a prisoner in his own house. His wife was very abusive. When he was deployed to Zvishavane, his wife would refuse to give him money or even mealie meal to eat,” he said.

Early this month a senior lecturer at the MSU allegedly committed suicide by drinking poison, a day after his alleged girlfriend, Netsai Ncube, was brutally murdered by her husband after bragging about their extramarital affair.

Arnold Kapenzi, of Southdowns suburb in Gweru, who was the Executive Dean in the Faculty of Natural Resources Management and Agriculture and had worked at the MSU since its inception 17 years ago, died at Kwekwe General Hospital after taking a poisonous substance.