By Own Correspondent| In a twist of events, three MDC officials are set to appear in court over the Zanu Pf fracas which occured at Kudzanai bus rank in Gweru where machete wielding Zanu Pf youths stormed the bus rank and started collecting revenue from commutter omnibus operators.

Chiundura Constituency legislator Livingstone Chimina and two other MDC officials were on Friday summoned to the police to answer charges of public violence after they effected citizen’s arrest on one of the Zanu Pf thugs involved in the fracas.

The Zanu Pf youth they arrested and handed over to the police was instead released while the trio were charged.

Said national spokesperson for the MDC Jacob Mafume:

“The MDC condemns in the strongest terms the arrest of MDC officials in Gweru including Hon Livingston Chimina of Chiundura Constituency who was playing a representational role stopping an ilegality by Zanu PF thugs who were collecting money from struggling citizens at Kudzanai rank.

The police called Hon Chimina, Charles Machangira and another to present themselves to the police, where they were detained the whole day only to be released later in the afternoon on flimsy public violence charges. They are set to appear before the Gweru magistrate tomorrow.

The three allegedly effected citizen’s arrest on one of the Zanu PF hoodlums who were collecting money from public transport operators at Kudzanayi Bus terminus since Monday. The others managed to escape. The thug was released by the police before the three were summoned to the Station.

The abuse of state institutions to pursue a partisan agenda is retrogressive especially when Zimbabwe is in a space when signs of reform are needed.

The use of the police service to serve a partisan agenda violates the Constitution which states that the service must be apolitical and must not deservice citizens’ political freedoms and rights.

We urge the leaders of the police service to rise above politics and Zanu PF to stop this abuse.

The rising persecution of dissent is a bad way of doing politics and must stop forthwith to allow Zimbabwe to move forward with the development of a Constitutional democracy.

Behold the New. Change that delivers!

Jacob Mafume
MDC National Spokesperson