OPPOSITION politician Linda Masarira has pulled a major shocker after she accused the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa of having a hand in the abduction of missing Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association leader Dr Peter Magombeyi.

Masarira who leads the new political party, LEAD, challenged fellow opposition MDC to start pushing for what she calls politics of issues instead of creating a false narrative that Zimbabwe has gross human rights violations.

She said it was curious but not surprising that the so-called abductions only happen when there is an international summit or when a high-ranking delegation is visiting Zimbabwe echoing sentiments raised by the ruling ZANU PF party.

“We have seen a lot of these so-called abductions since the end of last year, with the MDC trying to push the narrative that there are gross human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

“The abductions have only happened when there are international events. Last August there was a SADC summit in Tanzania and we had a series of abductions. Now that we have the UN General Assembly coming up, we have another so-called abduction,” Linda said in an interview with Zimbabwe Voice.

She added that Dr. Magombeyi was not of any threat to government to be abducted by State agents, adding that the last real abduction in her opinion was that of firebrand political activist Itayi Dzamara in 2015.

“I personally don’t think the medical doctor, Dr Peter Magombeyi, is of any threat to Zanu-PF and the Government. The big question is, what does the current government gain by abducting the medical doctor at such a time when they are trying to clean up their own image.

“Who stands to benefit from these so-called abductions? The MDC of course. If they abduct one of their own and put them in a safe house somewhere, they are going to get donor funds and buttress their narrative that there are gross human rights violations in Zimbabwe and then the US will probably apply more sanctions on Zimbabwe, and then they rejoice as they always do.

“The MDC should move away from politics of setting a bad narrative about our country and must start pushing for politics of issues. They want to grab power at all cost and are prepared to smear the country’s image just so that the current finds it difficult to attract solidarity from other nations and investment from abroad. It is very bad and shameful,” Masarira said.

Masarira, who herself spent over 80 days in prison on charges of insulting former President Robert Mugabe, said she was a much bigger threat to government herself but was never abducted.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade called upon the police to unravel the truth behind the abduction and also said the incident appears timed to coincide with the arrival in Zimbabwe of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Speech and Association.