Churchmen arrested

Ancelimo Magaya and his wife, Daphne, who also acts as his assistant, and Reverend Brian Mugwidi were also arrested, together with newspaperman, Pius Wakatama, who is a member of the CA’s publicity section.
Wakatama said they were detained for two hours at the notorious Law and Order section at Harare Central Police Station. He said police accused them of working on plans to form a new political party, a charge he dismissed outrightly as false.
“We were arrested on our way back from Bulawayo where the bishops had requested a briefing on the operations of Christian Alliance. In the end, the police said they were not going to charge us but ordered us to work closely with some bishops who are supportive of the government’s policies,” Wakatama added.
The Mutambara faction of the MDC condemned the arrests. “This is a sad development, which drags the name and integrity of our national police force into disrepute. While we do not doubt that these are intimidatory tactics that have been hatched by the Mugabe regime to cow those perceived to be opponents of the Zanu (PF) government, we do not expect state institution such as the police to obey orders of this nature. This country needs the spiritual, economic, social and political support to take it out of the crisis and church leaders should instead be congratulated for their initiative in trying to find a solution to the crisis,” said spokesman Gabriel Chaibva.- ZimOnline, staff reporter