The family of a young Zimbabwean girl who died after being run over by a U.S. diplomat wants the delegate to return to the country and directly apologize for the death.
According to BBC, authorities investigated a crash that killed 11-year-old Ruvarashe Takamhanya on June 3 as she was on her way to school in the town of Dema, 24 miles southeast of the country’s capital city, Harare.
Ruvarashe’s mother, Juliana Vito, said she learned of the accident from neighbors and ran to the scene, where the driver was nowhere to be found.
Zimbabwean officials identified U.S. Embassy Second Secretary Eric Kimpton as the driver behind the wheel of the car that day, according to some of the country’s news outlets.
Colleagues have apologized on his behalf, and the U.S. State Department confirmed that it provided “support to the girl’s family” and had representatives attend her funeral. Ruvarashe’s father, Silvester Takamhanya, also confirmed that the U.S. Embassy gave the family $2,000 to cover her funeral expenses.
But the 11-year-old’s parents say those gestures aren’t enough.
“I felt like he wasn’t really sorry,” Vito told BBC. “I wish he came directly so I could pour my heart out.”
“We are trying to be brave,” Takamhanya added. “He should come back and say sorry.”
According to a police spokesman, embassy officials told local authorities that Kimpton needed to rest after the crash but planned to speak with investigators. However, he left the country shortly after the accident and hasn’t returned. Vito said that she was told the diplomat left the scene because he was “affected by the accident.”
“The police who attended the scene were told by senior US embassy officials that he needed a period to rest but were told later he was no longer in the country,” Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesman Paul Nyathi told VOA Zimbabwe. “The documentation process hasn’t been completed and the matter is still before the police because we could not proceed with the formalities in his absence. It appears he is no longer coming back to Zimbabwe. Investigations have stalled.”
Zimbabwe’s presidential spokesman, George Charamba, shared intense criticism after learning about the diplomat’s response and subsequent actions.
“When a diplomat is involved in a fatal traffic accident, uses the pretext of counseling, which he thinks is only available in his country, and then decides to stay away from police, he or she moves from being a diplomat to a fugitive,” Charamba said.
As a foreign diplomatic official, Kimpton carries the power of diplomatic immunity. According to the U.S. State Department, diplomatic immunity allows foreign government officials to conduct their duties without being subjected to the criminal jurisdictions of their host country’s local courts and authorities.
A diplomatic agent “cannot be prosecuted no matter how serious the offense is unless their immunity is waived by the sending state,” State Department guidance reads. “The underlying concept is that foreign representatives can carry out their duties effectively only if they are accorded a certain degree of insulation from the application of standard law enforcement practices of the host country.”
A State Department official said the U.S. embassy “recognizes the devastation of this accident for all involved” and is cooperating with local authorities as they continue the crash investigation.
“As a government, we do not believe that the diplomat concerned set out to kill our national. It was an accident regardless of his culpability for it,” government spokesman Nick Mangwana said, adding, “There is an expectation that the parties involved would take responsibility and do the right thing by the family of the victim as well as by the laws of this country.”
Ruvarashe’s parents say they’re aware of the diplomat’s immunity from local prosecution but still want him to return to directly explain to them what happened the day their daughter was struck.
“I still can’t believe she is gone. She was my only child. I thought she was going to take care of me one day,” Vito said. “I’m just surviving but my life and my hope is gone. I’m dying day by day.”
