Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said that Air Chief Marshal (Retired) Elson Moyo is in stable condition and receiving medical care at a hospital in Harare following a road accident near Chegutu earlier this week.
Chiwenga visited the former Commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) on Friday to assess his condition and convey his best wishes.
Speaking to The Herald afterwards, Chiwenga, himself a retired Army General, said the Government is confident in his recovery and remains committed to supporting him, while he recuperates from the injuries. He said:
Air Chief Marshal (Rtd) Elson Moyo was a colleague and is a colleague, when he got involved in an accident from his farm it was of great concern and we wanted to see how his condition was.
He was airlifted to Manyame Air Base and then to the hospital for specialist medical care. I visited him at the hospital because I wanted to be satisfied that he was in good condition.
We were quite concerned when we got the news that he was involved in that accident, only to find out that yes, there are areas here and there where he has pain, but mostly they are muscle pains, but generally he is fine.
We think when the doctors do their final check-up, they will be able to tell that he is now fine, but when we saw him, he was in very good morale and soon he will be discharged.
Chiwenga revealed that Moyo is one of the first qualified group of fighter jet pilots who were deployed to the AFZ after independence. He said:
We have worked together for a long time since the time of our struggle for the independence of our country and then from 1980 as you would know, he was a trained pilot.
He was one of our first group of jet (fighter) pilots, even when we went for the Mozambique campaign.
A leaked internal memorandum from a district intelligence officer in Chegutu reveals that a 67-year-old Moyo was involved in a car accident on October 29 at around 3 PM.
While driving alone, he failed to negotiate a curve, causing his vehicle to veer off the road to the right.
The car then struck a tree before coming to a stop. As a result of the incident, he started experiencing pain in his right hip and shoulder. Reads the memo:
On the 29th day of October 2024, 1500hours and at 10 kilometre peg along Chegutu-Pickstone Road, Chegutu (Oldham Farm), the sole party, Retired Chief Air Marshal Elson Moyo (former commander of Air Force of Zimbabwe) aged 67 of Concession Hill Farm, Chegutu was driving a silver Toyota Hilux double cab registration number AES3454 in the dust road from his farm towards Chegutu.
Upon reaching the 10km peg, he failed to negotiate a curve. The vehicle veered off the road to the right, hit a tree and landed on its wheels.
The sole party did not sustain any visible injuries but was complaining of a painful right hip and shoulder.
He was taken to Chegutu District Hospital by a well-wisher, where he was airlifted to Harare by Air Ambulance (helicopter). His condition is stable.
The top-of-the-range car involved in the accident had its front right wheel dislodged, along with damage to the right headlamp and front fender.
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