News / Local
Mthwakazi leader fears for his life
20 Apr 2021 at 02:35hrs | Views
MTHWAKAZI Republic Party (MRP) leader Mqondisi Moyo said his family is now living in fear of being abducted after suspected Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives were spotted in the vicinity of his Bulawayo house.
Moyo said State agents had been monitoring his movements following an incident where party members clashed with police at Tabas Induna Farm in Ntabazinduna over a land dispute last month.
Nine MRP members were arrested after they stormed the farm demanding the eviction of former Vice-President Kembo Mohadi's son-in-law Floyd Ambrose.
The MRP's information department said the suspected CIOs had been questioning Moyo's neighbours about his whereabouts.
"On April 12 at 10:17am, four men who introduced themselves as CIOs descended on the (MRP) president's family home.
"Upon being asked to identify themselves, they produced cards which identified them as Zimbabwe Republic Police members, instead.
"They claimed they wanted to know where the MRP president was," the party's information department said in a statement.
"Moyo's sister-in-law asked them to explain their interest in seeing Moyo but they did not want to respond to that question and later said they wanted to question him personally.
"The last time they visited the home of Moyo's brother and forced him to take fingerprints. They made him to sign affidavits confirming that he was indeed, a brother to Moyo and that he was in the dark concerning his whereabouts.
"He is not evading police, but is only avoiding abduction by State security agents who have made it their habit, especially since the 2017 military coup," the MRP said.
Last week, MRP members and pressure groups staged demonstrations at the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa demanding the release of their detained members and a stop to harassment of their leader.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing nine jailed MRP activists have applied for bail at the High Court following several unsuccessful bids to secure their release at the lower courts.
The MRP activists are facing charges of public violence and participating in an unlawful demonstration.
Nqobani Sithole from Abammeli Lawyers for Human Rights yesterday confirmed that he had applied for bail at the High Court on behalf of the nine MRP activists.
"We applied for bail last week at the High Court. We are still waiting for a set-down date for the bail application hearing," Sithole said.
Moyo said State agents had been monitoring his movements following an incident where party members clashed with police at Tabas Induna Farm in Ntabazinduna over a land dispute last month.
Nine MRP members were arrested after they stormed the farm demanding the eviction of former Vice-President Kembo Mohadi's son-in-law Floyd Ambrose.
The MRP's information department said the suspected CIOs had been questioning Moyo's neighbours about his whereabouts.
"On April 12 at 10:17am, four men who introduced themselves as CIOs descended on the (MRP) president's family home.
"Upon being asked to identify themselves, they produced cards which identified them as Zimbabwe Republic Police members, instead.
"They claimed they wanted to know where the MRP president was," the party's information department said in a statement.
"The last time they visited the home of Moyo's brother and forced him to take fingerprints. They made him to sign affidavits confirming that he was indeed, a brother to Moyo and that he was in the dark concerning his whereabouts.
"He is not evading police, but is only avoiding abduction by State security agents who have made it their habit, especially since the 2017 military coup," the MRP said.
Last week, MRP members and pressure groups staged demonstrations at the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa demanding the release of their detained members and a stop to harassment of their leader.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing nine jailed MRP activists have applied for bail at the High Court following several unsuccessful bids to secure their release at the lower courts.
The MRP activists are facing charges of public violence and participating in an unlawful demonstration.
Nqobani Sithole from Abammeli Lawyers for Human Rights yesterday confirmed that he had applied for bail at the High Court on behalf of the nine MRP activists.
"We applied for bail last week at the High Court. We are still waiting for a set-down date for the bail application hearing," Sithole said.
Source - newsday
