Government has warned against the rising cases of false abductions in the country and is contemplating measures to deal with the threat and punish those responsible.

This was said by President Mnangagwa in his address to the nation last night.

His comments follow the reported abduction of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association acting president Dr Peter Magombeyi last weekend.
The alleged disappearance resulted in health personnel striking, demanding his release, while questions were raised in many quarters on the authenticity of the said abduction, amid indications it could have been staged to tarnish the Government’s image.

“While we are happy that a staffer at a local hospital who had been reported missing has now been found unharmed, Government is disturbed by the growing trend of politically motivated false abductions in the country which are calculated to put Government in negative light,” said President Mnangagwa.

“Such political trickery, which in fact amounts to terrorism, will not take our country forward. The State has a responsibility to ensure protection and safety for all citizens. New measures might have to be formulated to deal with this new threat and to severely punish those responsible for such subterfuges.”

President Mnangagwa said Government was disappointed by the health workers’ actions to strike following the alleged abduction, saying this resulted in unnecessary loss of lives.

“Equally, Government was not impressed at all by the way medical staff, as organised labour, responded to this political act of propaganda trickery,” he said.State media