7 MDC-T activists jailed for assaulting Victoria Falls mayor

Seven Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) activists including three councillors have been jailed for assaulting Victoria Falls Mayor, Nkosilathi Jiyane.

Jiyane who resigned from MDC-T last year runs Victoria Falls Town Council as an independent and has strong links to Zanu-PF.

Magistrate Richard Ramaboea on Friday sentenced the 7 MDC-T activists to two months in prison for contravening Section 44 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for assaulting Jiyane.

The jailed MDC T activists are Paulos Chiliwede (Councillor Ward 4), Bernard Nyamambi (Councillor Ward 1), Taruvinga Makoti (Councillor Ward 10), Fredrick Ngwenya, Bongani Moyo, Robson Salimu and Nkululeko Moyo.

According to the state's case, the MDC-T activists assaulted Jiyane after disrupting his residents meeting that was taking place at Chinotimba Community Hall on 6 January last year.

The Victoria Falls Mayor is a close confidante of Local Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo.

Chombo recently came to Jiyane's defence after MDC-T councillors threatened to fire him accusing him of incompetence.

The minister in turn accused the councillors for bringing internal party squabbles into local governance issues. MDC-T wanted to replace the mayor with a former commercial farmer Larry Cunnings.

Chombo has to date expelled a number of MDC-T mayors and councillors country wide.

The MDC-T has accused Chombo of fighting to reduce the number of its councillors in local authorities and also of frustrating corruption probes against him.