Mthwakazi leaders appear in court

MTHWAKAZI Republic Party (MRP) leader Mqondisi Moyo and party secretary-general Hloniphani Ncube have appeared in court for allegedly holding an unsanctioned meeting in Lupane in December last year. MRP is a secessionist party based in Matabeleland which was formed to spearhead the separation of the south-western parts of the country to form the so-called Mthwakazi Republic of Zimbabwe.

Moyo and Ncube appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Franklin Mkhwananzi facing charges of contravening a section of the Public Order and Security Act. They were both remanded out of custody to November 10 for trial. Prosecuting, Mr Taurai Hondoyemoto said on December 14, last year at around 2pm, Moyo and Ncube under the guise of holding a celebration party, convened a public meeting at Gumede Primary School in Lupane.

While addressing villagers, the two men purported that they had come to celebrate the acquittal of four villagers who had been arrested on allegations of intimidating a "bully" headmistress at Mlamuli Secondary School. During the meeting, the accused persons allegedly spoke ill of the Government, telling people that they would liberate them from the ruling Zanu-PF.

"They went on to address the gathering telling people that they wanted to liberate them from the ruling Zanu-PF Government by dividing the country into two separate nations along the Munyathi River in Kwekwe," he said.

Due to the nature of discussions, police officers who were at the meeting contacted their counterparts at Jotsholo Police Station notifying them of the political meeting which was not sanctioned by the regulating authority under POSA. When police descended on Moyo and Ncube they discovered that their meeting was not sanctioned by police leading to their arrest.