Zimbabwe Chess Federation (ZCF) President Charles Kuwaza has died after he allegedly jumped from the 9th floor of the Club Chambers building in Harare.
Kuwaza, the former Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary and State Procurement Board Chairperson met his death on Tuesday morning after committing suicide from a building he had gone to collect “maintenance court papers.”
It is reported that Kuwaza went to his office at around 11:00am in company of his wife who remained in the vehicle. 40 minutes later, when his wife decided to follow him, Kuwaza’a body was found crushed on a tarmac.
“We were surprised to hear the sound of a falling object when we were at the reception busy watching the independent celebration through TV,” said one security guard as quoted by The Zimbabwe News Live.
Kuwaza was under investigation by both the police and the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) for corruption charges. It is said that Kuwaza corruptly awarded government tenders and evaded tax during his term as the Chairperson of the State Procurement Board.
Kuwaza is also accused of keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars as salaries and allowances since 2009, and when his reign ended in 2016, Kuwaza allegedly refused to hand over the official car and other state properties including the house.
In the line of chess, Kuwaza is credited for bringing the former undisputed World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov to Zimbabwe in 2013. The Russian Grandmaster is arguably the greatest chess player of all times.