News / National
Did Tsvangirai lie to the SADC Troika?
08 May 2011 at 09:03hrs | Views
THE Attorney-General's Office is said to have exposed the lies that MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai told Sadc leaders before the Troika Summit that was held in Livingstone, Zambia, in March through a forensic audit that is set to leave the Prime Minister's credibility in tatters ahead of the much-anticipated extraordinary summit of the regional grouping set for May 20 in Namibia.
In a dossier that he distributed in his so-called diplomatic offensive ahead of the Livingstone summit, Mr Tsvangirai claimed that the securocrats had effected a silent coup in the country and were allegedly abusing their power to intimidate, arrest and detain alleged Zanu-PF opponents by invoking Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act without fulfilling the obligations of this section which require appeals under it to be filed within seven days.
The MDC-T leader claimed to the Sadc leaders that there were 51 cases where Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act had been abused between January and mid-March, with most cases taking place in February.
However, the forensic audit by the AG's office, which The Sunday Mail has, is said to be showing that the cases cited by Mr Tsvangirai in his sensational dossier that caused havoc in Livingstone were fewer in number than claimed and stretch over a two-year period.
The audit shows that some of the cases even occurred before the Global Political Agreement was signed in September 2008.
What has made this bad revelation worse for Mr Tsvangirai's credibility is that it comes hot on the heels of a thorough report documented by police which was released on Tuesday showing that MDC-T had topped cases of violence between January and April this year.
The AG's forensic audit, which responds to Mr Tsvangirai's March dossier, clearly shows that in all the 51 cases cited, there was no abuse of Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act while in some instances the MDC-T leader completely lied about the charges some of the listed people were facing.
One of the prominent cases cited by the MDC-T leader is that of Munyaradzi Gwisai, who was arrested together with 45 other activists. On that case, the AG's office said: "Accused (Gwisai) appeared at Harare Magistrates' Court on 23/02/11 together with 45 others facing a charge of treason. The accused and 45 challenged their placement on remand.
"The court refused to place 39 of them on remand on 07/03/11, that means the remaining six, which included Munyaradzi Gwisai, were the only persons placed on remand. The accused was therefore successfully placed on remand together with five others. Since treason is a third schedule offence, accused had to apply for bail in the High Court since magistrates' court had no jurisdiction to deal with the bail application. Accused and five others (names given) applied for bail in the High Court and it was granted on 16/03/11.
"The State did not invoke Section 121 as alleged, accused proceeded to pay bail. In other words, the allegation that Section 121 was invoked is totally false and a fabricated lie."
Regarding the 45 activists listed by Mr Tsvangirai as his party members, the AG's office said: ". . . during all the court proceedings the State was being made to believe that the 45 were members of the ISO and civil society. It is unknown to the AG that the members were of the MDC as stated in the query document. The reference to 45 members is deliberately done to sensationalise the purported number of invocation of Section 121 when in actual fact no such invocation was done . . . "
Mr Tsvangirai claimed that Section 121 was abused on Douglas Mwonzora's case, but the AG's office disputed this, saying his appeal was "properly heard in the High Court on 07/03/11. The appeal was dismissed and the accused were then admitted to bail".
In one of the cases, the MDC-T leader lied, saying one of the victims of the abuse of Section 121, Evangelista Machirita, was 75 years old, yet she is 56 years old. This was to give the impression that even senior citizens were being targeted in the abuse.
Mr Tsvangirai even sought to sensationalise the issue by presenting people facing the same charge as people facing different charges, yet these people were arrested at the same time.
In one such case, a single case where a group of people were charged with public violence was presented in Mr Tsvangirai's dossier as if these were 28 different cases. The MDC-T leader lied in his dossier that
Thamsanqa Mahlangu was charged with criminal defamation yet he was charged with theft. He went further and lied that Toendepi Shone was charged with theft yet he was charged with perjury while he lied that one Constance Gambara was charged with perjury yet she was charged with contempt of court. On one Andrison Manyere, whom Mr Tsvangirai also claimed to be a victim of the abuse, the AG's office said:
"He was charged with insurgency, sabotage, banditry and terrorism as opposed to criminal abuse of duty as a public officer as alleged. Manyere is not a public officer. He is a private freelance photo journalist."
The MDC-T leader even mixed up names saying Meki Makuyana was the MP for Bindura South yet he is the MP for Chipinge South constituency. He went on to misrepresent facts saying Makuyana was charged with robbery and extortion yet he was charged with kidnapping.
In some of the cases, the prosecutors invoked Section 121 but the AG declined to prosecute the appeals after considering the prospects of success on merit.
The disclosure by the AG has been bolstered by the police report which highlights that most of the MDC-T violence was committed in the build-up to the party's violent congress.
Commenting on the latest revelations, an official at the Sadc Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana, who spoke on condition of anonymity for diplomatic reasons, said Mr Tsvangirai's March dossier and the documented evidence now coming out "do not square up in his favour".
The official said the evidence coming out now "leaves him (Tsvangirai) completely exposed and facing a credibility crisis which he needs to address urgently and truthfully if he wishes to be taken as a national leader in Zimbabwe".
Observers said Mr Tsvangirai's dilemma is not surprising given the fact that his party and its supporters in the private media have adopted a self-defeating strategy of inventing false cases and stories of alleged widespread violence in the country as a political weapon against Zanu-PF in the mistaken belief that Sadc will swallow their invention without verifying it.
In a dossier that he distributed in his so-called diplomatic offensive ahead of the Livingstone summit, Mr Tsvangirai claimed that the securocrats had effected a silent coup in the country and were allegedly abusing their power to intimidate, arrest and detain alleged Zanu-PF opponents by invoking Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act without fulfilling the obligations of this section which require appeals under it to be filed within seven days.
The MDC-T leader claimed to the Sadc leaders that there were 51 cases where Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act had been abused between January and mid-March, with most cases taking place in February.
However, the forensic audit by the AG's office, which The Sunday Mail has, is said to be showing that the cases cited by Mr Tsvangirai in his sensational dossier that caused havoc in Livingstone were fewer in number than claimed and stretch over a two-year period.
The audit shows that some of the cases even occurred before the Global Political Agreement was signed in September 2008.
What has made this bad revelation worse for Mr Tsvangirai's credibility is that it comes hot on the heels of a thorough report documented by police which was released on Tuesday showing that MDC-T had topped cases of violence between January and April this year.
The AG's forensic audit, which responds to Mr Tsvangirai's March dossier, clearly shows that in all the 51 cases cited, there was no abuse of Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act while in some instances the MDC-T leader completely lied about the charges some of the listed people were facing.
One of the prominent cases cited by the MDC-T leader is that of Munyaradzi Gwisai, who was arrested together with 45 other activists. On that case, the AG's office said: "Accused (Gwisai) appeared at Harare Magistrates' Court on 23/02/11 together with 45 others facing a charge of treason. The accused and 45 challenged their placement on remand.
"The court refused to place 39 of them on remand on 07/03/11, that means the remaining six, which included Munyaradzi Gwisai, were the only persons placed on remand. The accused was therefore successfully placed on remand together with five others. Since treason is a third schedule offence, accused had to apply for bail in the High Court since magistrates' court had no jurisdiction to deal with the bail application. Accused and five others (names given) applied for bail in the High Court and it was granted on 16/03/11.
"The State did not invoke Section 121 as alleged, accused proceeded to pay bail. In other words, the allegation that Section 121 was invoked is totally false and a fabricated lie."
Regarding the 45 activists listed by Mr Tsvangirai as his party members, the AG's office said: ". . . during all the court proceedings the State was being made to believe that the 45 were members of the ISO and civil society. It is unknown to the AG that the members were of the MDC as stated in the query document. The reference to 45 members is deliberately done to sensationalise the purported number of invocation of Section 121 when in actual fact no such invocation was done . . . "
Mr Tsvangirai claimed that Section 121 was abused on Douglas Mwonzora's case, but the AG's office disputed this, saying his appeal was "properly heard in the High Court on 07/03/11. The appeal was dismissed and the accused were then admitted to bail".
In one of the cases, the MDC-T leader lied, saying one of the victims of the abuse of Section 121, Evangelista Machirita, was 75 years old, yet she is 56 years old. This was to give the impression that even senior citizens were being targeted in the abuse.
Mr Tsvangirai even sought to sensationalise the issue by presenting people facing the same charge as people facing different charges, yet these people were arrested at the same time.
In one such case, a single case where a group of people were charged with public violence was presented in Mr Tsvangirai's dossier as if these were 28 different cases. The MDC-T leader lied in his dossier that
Thamsanqa Mahlangu was charged with criminal defamation yet he was charged with theft. He went further and lied that Toendepi Shone was charged with theft yet he was charged with perjury while he lied that one Constance Gambara was charged with perjury yet she was charged with contempt of court. On one Andrison Manyere, whom Mr Tsvangirai also claimed to be a victim of the abuse, the AG's office said:
"He was charged with insurgency, sabotage, banditry and terrorism as opposed to criminal abuse of duty as a public officer as alleged. Manyere is not a public officer. He is a private freelance photo journalist."
The MDC-T leader even mixed up names saying Meki Makuyana was the MP for Bindura South yet he is the MP for Chipinge South constituency. He went on to misrepresent facts saying Makuyana was charged with robbery and extortion yet he was charged with kidnapping.
In some of the cases, the prosecutors invoked Section 121 but the AG declined to prosecute the appeals after considering the prospects of success on merit.
The disclosure by the AG has been bolstered by the police report which highlights that most of the MDC-T violence was committed in the build-up to the party's violent congress.
Commenting on the latest revelations, an official at the Sadc Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana, who spoke on condition of anonymity for diplomatic reasons, said Mr Tsvangirai's March dossier and the documented evidence now coming out "do not square up in his favour".
The official said the evidence coming out now "leaves him (Tsvangirai) completely exposed and facing a credibility crisis which he needs to address urgently and truthfully if he wishes to be taken as a national leader in Zimbabwe".
Observers said Mr Tsvangirai's dilemma is not surprising given the fact that his party and its supporters in the private media have adopted a self-defeating strategy of inventing false cases and stories of alleged widespread violence in the country as a political weapon against Zanu-PF in the mistaken belief that Sadc will swallow their invention without verifying it.
Source - The New Ziana
