Mujuru official's house torched

Suspected Zanu-PF youths allegedly torched a house belonging to Joice Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) activist, Passmore Simba, in Shamva, Mashonaland Central.

ZPF spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire told the Daily News yesterday that Simba — the party's ward four Shamva North coordinator — had his house razed down early Saturday while he was sleeping.

"The matter was attended to by a constable Gono from Madziwa Police Station but the complainant was only given a reference number," Mawarire said.

Narrating the ordeal, Simba said he suspected Zanu-PF's district officials, particularly Exactly Choto, Lovemore Mapfumo, Canaan Jiti and Chipo Dzungu, who had confronted him over his ZPF membership prior to the arson.

"They said I had sold out and threatened me saying they were going to deal with me. They said they were not happy with my association with Unwait Nyuruka who is our shadow MP," he said, adding that "police officers from Shamva came to my house after I made a report and they said they were carrying out investigations".

Police spokesperson, Charity Charamba, was unavailable to comment on the allegations as her mobile phone was switched off.

But Mawarire was quick to blame President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, saying "as a party, we believe that this attack is meant to instil fear in our supporters and leaders after an oversubscribed meeting with our president (Mujuru) outside Bindura on July 30".

"We condemn these barbaric arson acts and urge the police to be professional in their work and weed out these undesirable elements in our body politic who kill, rape and destroy people's property all in support of an apparently unpopular dictator and his equally unpopular Zanu-PF," he said.