MDC-T MP acquitted

MAGWEGWE MP Anele Ndebele of the MDC-T was on Monday found not guilty of assaulting party members he reportedly accused of convening a meeting without his knowledge.

Ndebele was denying the charge when he appeared before Western Commonage Court magistrate Tancy Dube who acquitted him due to lack of evidence.

Allegations against Ndebele were that sometime in November last year, he assaulted party members, including the MDC-T chairperson in his constituency Trixon Tonderai Nyamupingidza and Ali Pemba.

Ndebele allegedly accused them of convening a meeting without his knowledge as MP.

However, Ndebele refuted the allegations saying the MDC-T did not have a chairperson in Magwegwe. It was alleged that Ndebele was angered by the holding of a meeting resulting in a brawl between him, Nyamupingidza and other party members.

The assaulted members reported Ndebele to the police, leading to his arrest and subsequent appearance in court.

Ndebele was suspended by his party's Bulawayo provincial executive last month pending the outcome of the court case.

Ndebele was ecstatic on Monday following his acquittal and said those who accused him of assaulting them were actually the ones who attacked him.

"They had called a meeting for the residents and they started making people chant slogans and that is when I questioned them and told them that it was illegal for them to turn a residents' meeting into a political meeting. This is when they attacked me," he said.

"As I was blocking their blows, they were wounded on their hands and decided to report me."