Tsvangirai MDC deny hiding suspects in Mabvuku violence

By Violet Gonda
7 July 2006

The Secretary General of the Tsvangirai MDC, Tendai Biti, has dismissed allegations that his party had smuggled out of the country some of the suspects in the Mabvuku violence incident. The rift between the warring MDC factions had deepened last Sunday when officials from the Mutambara MDC were attacked in Mabvuku by people they claim belong to the other faction.
Then on Thursday Gabriel Chaibva spokesperson of the Mutambara MDC made more serious accusations saying that some of the youths alleged to have attacked Harare North MP Trudy Stevenson and others had been smuggled out of the country into South Africa by a top official of the Tsvangirai group.
Chaibva claimed, “The opposition faction was tipped off by members of the public that a number of people were housed at Eddie Cross’ house in Bulawayo over the night, en-route to a foreign country.”
Chaibva also said one of the vehicles that the youths allegedly used to get away in Mabvuku, was found in Bulawayo.

But the Tsvangirai MDC denies this.
Biti said the party will not protect anyone who breaks the law and the law must take its course on this issue. Responding to the allegations of smuggling people out of the country he said this is an attempt to mislead people and an attempt to score political points. He defended Eddie Cross vehemently saying, “ I have known Eddie Cross throughout my life and Eddie Cross cannot hurt a fly.”
The opposition official said the allegations won’t fool the people of Zimbabwe because what they want are solutions to address critical issues of unemployment, housing and food.
Biti said his party condemned the attack on Trudy Stevenson and the others; “And I made it very clear that if our commission of inquiry establishes that any member or supporter was indeed involved, due processes will take place and we will expel them.”

Biti says he suspects the police and the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) may have played a role in the Mabvuku incident and created the violence.
He said, “To me I have no illusions about the system we are dealing with. We are dealing with a ZANU PF that was founded on violence, got to power through violence, has sustained itself through violence, will use violence to destroy the opposition and will use violence to destroy and put wedges in the democratic forces.”
The Secretary General added, “In recent times there has been no state that has unleashed more moral, physical and intellectual violence than the Robert Mugabe regime and that is the violence we need to deal with.”