BULAWAYO - Two MDC legislators were detained overnight at Bulawayo central police station Saturday on charges of allegedly using their vehicle to ferry weapons police claim were stolen from Pomona Army Barracks in Harare.Luveve MDC MP Reggie Moyo and Albert Mhlanga, MP for Pumula, were arrested at a roadblock as they were travelling from Shangani to Bulawayo. They were only released on Sunday evening without charge.
The arrest came as dozens of heavily armed police officers had one day earlier ransacked an MDC-leased home in Chisipite, Harare, ostensibly on the hunt for the same weapons. Police left empty-handed – but only after forcing the guard to dig around the house, and making personal threats against him and his wife.
The army claims 19 AK-47 rifles, one pistol and ammunition have been stolen from Pomona Army Barracks in Borrowdale.
It is not clear why police believe the MDC has anything to do with the weapons.
The arrest and raid came just over a week after the MDC announced it would boycott cabinet meetings with President Robert Mugabe’s party Zanu (PF), the MDC’s partners in the inclusive government.
“Tsvangirai has said he has not quit government but will resume unity relations once issues – including disputes over key posts and the crackdown on his supporters – are settled. We regard this as further evidence of lack of a paradigm shift on the part of Zanu (PF) to treat us as an equal partner,” MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said.
“We regard it as serious evidence of a few in Zanu (PF) and ‘securocrats’ who want us out of the government.”
Post published in: Politics