MDC Alliance lies have short legs, indeed

In 2019, just a year after the harmonised elections, a 'dead protestor' appeared in the dock.

Yes, a 'dead' one.

The MDC Alliance and some non-governmental organisations played God and created a man.

The NGOs cooked up figures of people who died during the MDC-Alliance-instigated violence, but only to be exposed by this publication after the man they claimed to have been shot dead by security officers appeared before a Kadoma magistrate.

The alleged dead man was one Tinashe Kaitano, who was 20 years old, and convicted of arson for setting alight a Zanu-PF administrative district office in Kadoma.

Kadoma magistrate Mr Tinashe Gwazemba convicted Kaitano together with then MDC Alliance Kadoma District chairperson and former ward 2 councillor Michael Gore.

Ms Gracious Chaminuka prosecuted.

They say a liar should have a good memory, but the opposition seems to lack both qualities of telling the truth and that of remembering their lies. On February 22, 2019 to be specific, a private daily paper, quoting an NGO, claimed that Kaitano had been buried at a cemetery in Kadoma.

However, inquiries by The Herald with the City of Kadoma Housing and Community Services director Mr Aaron Masembura revealed that no one with such a name had been buried at Rimuka Cemetery after the violence.

"There is no Tinashe Kaitano in our register for Rimuka Cemetery," he said.

President Mnangagwa had also queried the figures that were being claimed by foreign media houses who feed on the anti-Government drivel churned by the opposition and NGOs to set an anti-Zimbabwe agenda globally.

The Kadoma case is a classical example of the opposition modus operandi of using extreme atrocity propaganda to discredit the ruling party, Zanu-PF.

The other favoured tactic is staging fake abductions that usually coincide with key regional and international events.

In the respectable courts of law, the MDC Alliance is never shy to engage in dirty trickeries, a recent case being that of the party's trio of Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri, and Netsai Marova.

A year after being arrested, the trio has been using all tricks available to avoid going to trial in what the State has simply described as attempts to frustrate the course of justice.

If the truth is to be told, trickery and treachery are always the practices of fools that have no wits.

The trio was arrested on May 13, 2020, with the trial date having been set for September 4, 2020, but since then the opposition figures, who are out on bail, have been trying to dribble past justice.

On September 4 when the trial was set to kick start, through their lawyers Mr Alec Muchadehama and Mr Jeremiah Bamu, they brought a letter in court saying Mamombe had mental problems and could not comprehend court proceedings.

However, in terms of the Mental Health Act if a magistrate or judge observes that an accused person appears to have mental problems or if there is documentary evidence that the accused person has mental problems he or she must remand the accused person in custody and orders that two Government medical doctors examine the accused person.

The State led by Mr Michael Reza then applied for Mamombe to be remanded in custody while being examined by two Government medical doctors and the court granted that application which was immediately challenged by the defence counsel at the High Court in what was another attempt to delay justice.

Since then it has been a series of delays.

In terms of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, the State on November 14, 2020 then applied for separation of the trial between Mamombe and the other two accused persons.

On November 23, 2020 the deputy chief magistrate Mrs Bianca Makwande then ruled that Mamombe stands trial on her own while her co-accused jointly appear on the same charges.

According to court papers, the trial date for Chimbiri and Marova was set for December 7, 2020, and the defence counsel challenged this at the High Court.

After that, a letter from Mamombe's doctors was produced in court showing that she was now fit to stand trial, the High Court then ordered that the trial of the trio proceed.

During all this, the State furnished the defence counsel with all evidence required to start a trial, including witness statements, mobile phone records showing that at the time the accused allege to have been under kidnap they were in and around Harare Central Business District.

Closed Circuit Television footage and witness statements also showing that they were at Belgravia shopping centre around 5pm were furnished to the lawyers and signed by Mr Bamu who acknowledged receipt.

The lawyers applied for execution of charges and when the State wanted to respond, the lawyers allegedly backtracked saying they wanted to make additions to the documents as a way of purportedly frustrating and buying time.

Further applications were made including that of recusal of the magistrate from the matter alleging that she was not fair.

Hence it has been a year with the opposition figures just frustrating the course of justice.

Working in cahoots with the G40 apologists, they even went on to coin the phrase ‘catch and release' meant to tarnish the image of the State as being incompetent in handling cases.

However, it is for all to see that the arrested G40 kingpins and the opposition figures are always fighting hard to frustrate the course of justice.

Justice delayed is usually justice denied.

The opposition, which runs the majority of urban councils, instead of devising dirty antics to discredit a legit Government and its apparatus they should be channelling energy in reviving service delivery which has deteriorated to alarming levels.

A case in point is Harare City Council which is now an eyesore, with basic services like water provision and refuse collection now a thing of the past since the MDC took charge of the capital city in 2000.