Mutambara MDC national chairperson arrested

By Tichaona Sibanda
10 September 2007

The chairperson of the Mutambara led MDC, Jobert Mudzumwe, was on Monday picked up by the police from his offices in Masvingo and spent five hours at the Law and Order section. He was released without charge.

Mudzumwe told Newsreel he believes he was picked up for organising a meeting that was eventually held at a secret location in the town. He said the meeting had been sanctioned by the police.

‘I was picked up just after 8 in the morning by officers from the Law and Order section but I was never charged with any offence. I spent five hours being shifted from office to office but eventually I was allowed to go home,’ Mudzumwe said.

Mudzumwe said they held a workshop on Saturday, which they also used to co-opt some members into the provincial leadership. He explained that when they got to the original venue for their meeting at New Gate Lodge, management there told them they were no longer able to host them, for unexplained reasons. The group quickly found an alternative venue and went ahead with their workshop in the belief that they had been granted a go-ahead by the authorities.

‘I strongly believe the police intimidated management at New Gate Lodge to a point where they felt unsafe to host us. So we got ourselves a venue which the police did not know about and I could see they were seething with rage about it,’ he said.

Mudzumwe was surprised to learn from the police that the change of venue was actually a criminal act under POSA, adding that the police officers ended up demanding minutes from the meeting.

‘I told them it was unacceptable and that it was not their business to meddle in our party affairs. I asked them if it was the same with Zanu-PF to get minutes after every meeting,’ Mudzumwe said.

Asked if he was beaten or interrogated during the five hour ordeal, Mudzumwe said; ‘They know I hit back. I’ve been beaten senseless by the police, I have lost teeth through beatings and I have had bones broken but I have since made it a point to hit back, I’m no longer afraid.’

A statement released by the party condemned Mudzumwe’s detention, describing it as indicative of the continued assault on people’s liberties, freedoms and rights by state agents on the instigation of the Zanu-PF regime.

‘We are aware that as the nation moves towards the 2008 elections, the regime will resort to brazen acts of force and brutality to muzzle any dissenting voices. We wish to remind the regime that the citizens of Zimbabwe have a right to assemble, including the right to engage in political gatherings,’ the statement said.

The statement added that it was disturbing to note that the police were being used to hound people out of their homes and offices and that such actions have no place in a democratic society and should be condemned.