'Chikurubi jailbreak politically was meant to embarrass Mugabe'

The jailbreak attempt at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in March was politically-motivated and involved members of the security forces who worked with the inmates in a bid to embarrass President Mugabe who was on an official visit to Japan.

Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services Deputy Commissioner General Agrey Huggins Machingauta said inmates had roped in members of the prison services, the police, the army and intelligence services.

He said according to their intelligence, the objective of the inmates was to attack senior Government officials once they made good their escape.

Dep Comm-Gen Machingauta said the other motive of the attempted escape was to embarrass President Mugabe.

However, Machingauta did not name the political party that influenced the riots and attempted jailbreak that rocked the prison complex on March 13.

His evidence contradicted Vice-President and Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had earlier claimed that the riots were incited by jailed rapist pastor Robert Martin Gumbura.

Machingauta told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs, the attempted prison break was meant to tarnish the image of the country at a time when President Robert Mugabe was on a State visit to Japan.