Five activists and friends of abducted activist Itai Dzamara arrested for protesting against Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko’s hotel blow on Monday, have been released.
The fearless five are calling for Mphoko’s immediate exit from the Rainbow Towers hotel where he has blown over $152,000 of taxpayer money to date.
They were Wednesday afternoon released without any conditions and their court appearance cancelled after spending two nights at the Central Police station.
The activists are Dirk Frey, Tendai Tendayi, Lynnette Mudehwe, Irvin Takavada, Elvis Mugari, and Tonderai Chigumbu.
The police had attempted to use Section 46 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.
Meanwhile, commenting on the development before their release,the DARE Youth Movement said it demands the immediate freedom of our youth leaders arrested for demonstrating against abuse of state resources by government executive officials.Indeed the extravagance of government leaders does not reflect the dire state of our economy. The opulence and grandeur of Zimbabwe elite is in fact criminal in the face of starvation and poverty among Zimbabweans. Our hospitals are short of drugs and equipment with a dire medical staff remuneration discord. That a vice president would acrue a bill of more than two million dollars on hotel fees is surely the worst insult to Zimbabweans.DARE political party condemn the selfish, looting mentality of Robert Mugabe, Phekezela Mphoko and Emmerson Mnangagwa.
We are equally astounded that the police who are lacking in resouces to police the state for lack of budgetary support brutally crush demonstrations. In fact the requirement to notify police is an unjust requirement flying in the face of freedom. Faced with a crisis of mammoth proportions, it is pathetic that Zanu Pf decides to fight democracy by silencing the demand for just expenditure. We can not continue to be pushed into state debt through negligence and corruption.We are concerned that Ziscosteel and some state companies are folding for lack of resources. Indeed we are moving into a new era where we can not accept abuse of office and state resources for party or personal whims. The same situation happened during the constitutional commission with Jonathan Moyo spending nearly a year at the Rainbow Towers at the expense of the state. Indeed we must remind the executive arm of government that Zimbabwe is poor and can not sustain their opulence hence the peacefull request for the present government to step down forthwith.They have failed to create wealth yet spend whatever little is coming through high taxes. We call upon the people of Zimbabwe to demand the immediate release of DARE cde’s and friends.We categorically warn that looting will not be tolerated in our impoverished nation.Once again we hasten to call and invite Zimbabweans to action against the Zanu Pf regime. We ask for cancellation of the RBZ bill and the takeover of private or corporate debts by the state where there is proven recklesness of resources.We ask for the auditor general’s report to be investigated throughly by an independent body to get to the bottom of missing $5 billion gvt funds.We are clear that awarding without procurement process Nikuv Projects a tender to clandestinley run elections in Zimbabwe in 2013 is a crime that must be answered. We indeed ask why George Charamba is still in government when he was fingered in the PSMAS scandal.We are stupefied why David Kajese Parirenyatwa is still a minister of health despite looting the PSMAS fund and creating new terminology to cover up stealing.It is time we stand up for democracy and freedom of expression and speech.We once again call on the police to desist from brutal crackdowns on opposition supporters.It is clear that repression and suppression will not deter our struggle for democraticaly restored and empowered Zimbabwe.Aluta Continua