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US embassy official flees Zimbabwe after fatal road accident

‘Fugitive’ Eric Kimpton struck and killed 11-year-old girl

By Staff Reporter

A US embassy official is believed to have fled the country 24 hours after striking and killing an 11-year-old Zimbabwean girl last month.

US Embassy Second Secretary, Eric Kimpton ran over Ruvarashe Takamhanya in Dema, a peri-urban area over 60km south of Harare.

The incident happened on June 3.

He told police he was traumatised by the incident and was leaving for the US to receive some counselling services while promising to return in two weeks.

He has not returned seven weeks later.

Police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said a docket has been opened against Kimpton, making him a fugitive from the law.

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba vowed Zimbabwe will pursue all available diplomatic channels to bring Kimpton to justice.

“No one, from whichever country or continent, is allowed to spill innocent Zimbabwean blood and get away with it,” said Charamba, who is Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications).

“The behaviour of diplomats must be consistent with the dignity of their profession but also with the expectations of the Vienna Convention.

“When a diplomat is involved in a fatal traffic accident, uses the pretext of counselling, which he thinks is only available in his country, and then decides to stay away from the police, he or she moves from being a diplomat to a fugitive and there are adequate instruments which Zimbabwe can summon to bring that diplomat to account. We will do precisely that.”

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