Three more MDC activists abducted

By Violet Gonda
17 December 2008

The unspeakable terror of being taken from your house and abducted is the daily reality of many Zimbabweans. So far at least 23 people are known to have been kidnapped from their homes in the last seven weeks, and the number has increased with three more victims.

The MDC-T reported on Wednesday that three activists were abducted, in three different parts of the country. Graham Matehwa, the MDC youth chairperson for Ward 26 of Gwangwadza village in Makoni South constituency Manicaland, was picked up by four armed men Wednesday morning. The party said two of the abductors were identified as Isaac Dangirwa and Lucky Chingara.

Another MDC youth activist, Bothwell Pasipamire of Kadoma Central in Mashonaland West province, was kidnapped four days ago; while Peter Munyanyi of Ward 8 in Gutu North constituency Masvingo province, was abducted this week at Uchinda Business Centre, by armed soldiers led by a colonel.

Meanwhile a group of MDC activists abducted from the Banket area are still missing, almost two months after they were abducted from their homes around 27 October, and the police have not complied with court orders.

One of the victims’ lawyers, Alex Muchadehama, said it is now a question of who is going to police, the police and the security agents, as they are the perpetrators of violence.

Muchadehama said the police are ignoring court orders even in the case of Jestina Mukoko, the Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project. Police were ordered to place alerts in the media, to conduct thorough searches and to update the courts on a daily basis, but they have done none of this.

A frustrated Muchadehama said it’s now total lawlessness that is being perpetrated. No one has been arrested in the normal sense of the word, or advised of their rights to a lawyer, or has appeared in court before an impartial judge and tried within a reasonable time. “That due process in terms of the constitution has not been followed.’

The lawyer is concerned that there will be an increase in abductions, as more and more activists report that they are being tailed by ‘faceless thugs.’

Meanwhile it’s reported that almost all MDC activists in Bindura are on the run, and they have been under constant threat since the death of ZANU PF gangster Elliot Manyika in a car accident last week.

The MDC issued a statement Tuesday saying the police have falsely imprisoned three party officials in Bindura. 11 of the 12 MDC councillors of the Bindura Municipality fled their homes after police arrested Ward 10 councillor Norbert Dhokotera and two other MDC activists, in pre-dawn raids on Monday night. Those arrested are being held at Bindura Central Police Station on undisclosed charges.

Dhokotera had been arrested and then released last week on false charges of petrol bombing the houses of Zanu PF supporters. He was released after it turned out that it was Zanu PF youths who had petrol bombed five houses belonging to MDC supporters.

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