MDC-T official appears in court charged with attempted murder

MDC’s Pishai Muchauraya

By Tichaona Sibanda
18 March 2013

The district secretary for the MDC-T in Headlands, Samson Magumura, appeared before a Rusape magistrate on Monday facing charges of attempted murder and malicious damage to property. He was remanded in custody to the 5th April.

Magumura was arrested at gunpoint by police on Saturday in connection with the attempted murder of a ZANU PF supporter, William Chapape, whose car was allegedly petrol bombed last week.

Magumura, who denies the charges, said they are politically motivated and meant to tarnish his name and that of his party. Magistrate Shingi Mutiro said because of the nature of charges that Magumura is facing, only the High Court can deal with his bail application.

Pishai Muchauraya, the provincial spokesman for the MDC-T in Manicaland, said their lawyers have told them the application for bail will be heard on Thursday in Harare.

‘Magumura is denying the charges and tells us the scene of the alleged petrol bomb and where he lives is 100km apart. He lives in Headlands at a place called Stella business centre and the scene where this bombing is alleged to have taken place is in ward 1 of Makoni North, which is the border with Mutoko in Mashonaland East province,’ Muchauraya said.

Muchauraya said the strange thing about the alleged crime is that nobody has seen the car wreck that was petrol bombed.

‘This is dirty politics by ZANU PF using the police. We had Christpowers who died when their home was petrol bombed and weeks down the line nobody has been arrested.

‘Now we have an alleged car that was petrol bombed and whose wreck has not been seen by anybody and yet we already have someone behind bars for it. This is some big politician in ZANU PF in the Headlands trying to get back to MDC,’ Muchauraya said.

Christpowers was the young son of Shepherd Maisiri, an aspiring MP for Headlands and MDC-T Deputy Organizing Secretary for the district. He died last month in a house blaze blamed on ZANU PF activists.

MDC-T Secretary General Tendai Biti, has publicly accused the ZANU PF Secretary for Administration, Didymus Mutasa, of being responsible for the death of Christpowers.

However the ZANU PF strongman denies the allegations. Mutasa is the MP for Headlands which has witnessed many cases of violence waged against known supporters of Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.