MDC activists flees Zimbabwe, holed in SA

MDC-Alliance activists and their civil society partners have fled the country and are reportedly holed up in South Africa after organising the so-called stay-away that degenerated into an orgy of looting, vandalism and lawlessness.

The pre-planned demonstrations, which were supported by foreign-funded non-governmental organisations and social groups such as #Tajamuka and #This Flag, left six people, including a police officer, dead.

Property worth millions of dollars was destroyed.

A source said the fugitive civil society leaders who include Mr Rashid Mahiya, the chairperson of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Mr Thabani Moyo, the director of Media Institute of Southern Africa, MDC Alliance MP for Harare North Joana Mamombe, Calvin Kobiri of Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights and director of Combined Harare Residents Association Mr Mfundo Mlilo among others are being hosted in the neighbouring country by Amnesty International, an anti-Government entity.

Others who fled the arrests include Tineyi Mukwena of Abameli Lawyers for Human Rights Network, Conrad Munyaradzi who is the advocacy and communications manager at HelpAge Zimbabwe, Tendai Chabvuta formerly with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum and Pride Mukono of Generational Consensus.

"The fugitives are hiding in South Africa and are now begging their foreign handlers for funding to escalate protests in the country following the first wave of protests that left a trail of destruction," said the source.

MDC Alliance activists, among them Councillor Godfrey Kurauone of Masvingo City Council, co-ordinated and participated in the protests. They are reportedly hiding in Melville, Johannesburg. Five of the activists are from Bulawayo and are on the police wanted list for co-ordinating WhatsApp groups and inciting people to protest.

"The fugitives have lined up a number of meetings with their foreign handlers in Johannesburg to give what they term a context analysis of the situation in Zimbabwe following the violent protests hoping that they would be given more funding to cause anarchy in the country," said the source.

"During the engagements, the fugitives are expected to present what they termed a 'fact sheet' and Thulani Mswelanto of CiZC has been tasked with keeping the document safe and guard it against the possibility of it being leaked."

The contents of the "fact sheet" are only known to a few civil society leaders as there seem to be no trust among them.

The civil society leaders have also roped in some unscrupulous medical doctors to compile reports of people that were allegedly killed or injured by security forces during the protests.

The report will be tabled during their crucial meetings with their funders.

"The doctors that are part of the plot to discredit the Government include Harare doctor Edgar Munatsi and Norman Matara and Bulawayo-based Dr Emmanuel Chagonda who operates under the ZDHR," said the source.

Contacted for comment last night, MDC-Alliance co-vice president Mr Elias Mudzuri said he was not privy to the latest developments. He however, distanced his party from last week's violent protests.

"I am not aware of any of our members who fled the country. As vice president of MDC Alliance and a leader who is nationalistic there is no way we can co-ordinate violence of any sort. Protests are a constitutional right, but we are saying as a nation, including civil society, churches and political parties that we must sit down and ensure that people don't fight and kill each other during protests and destroy property. We must come together and build our nation and find a common focus," Mr Mudzuri said.