Own Correspondent

State run Sunday Mail has come up with weird claims that arrested MDC Alliance members who were abducted by state v security agents with the help of the police faked the abduction in order to cause civil uprising in the country.

The paper claims that the opposition MDC has been actively working with foreign missions under an operation code-named “Operation Lighthouse” to cause civil disturbances in the country under the cover of hardships caused by coronavirus.

The elaborate plot was designed to culminate in bloodshed that would have attracted condemnation and further isolation of the country.

According to the media house, confidential information in their possession showed that the operation was supposed to have been rolled out in three phases, with the first stage expected to be ignited through “sporadic” or “flash” demonstrations.

Calculated to coincide with the ongoing lockdown, where restrictions on movement have been imposed, the demonstrations were expected to provoke a disproportionate reaction from the security forces after which international condemnation was expected to follow.

“In line with this, the recent flash demonstration led by MDC Harare West Member of Parliament Joana Mamombe, in Warren Park, was supposed to be the trigger for phase two.”

Mamombe, Netsai Marova and Cecilia Chimbiri participated in a demonstration in Warren Park, Harare, on May 13, 2020 after which they were later abducted by security agents.

The state has since claimed that the abduction was fake culminating in the arrest of the political activists last week.

Without providing evidence, the media house coffins that the “abduction” was designed to spawn a blood-letting “spontaneous uprising” “Arab-spring style”.

According to the report, there were some foreign missions that were prepared to provide small firearms that would have been used to entrap the security services.

The firearms were reportedly supposed to be trafficked disguised as food aid.

Added the source: “As hoped by the plotters, a proportionate response to armed protestors would culminate in collateral damage, which would cause more outrage and ultimately, full-blown conflict. Safe houses had even been established around Harare in Waterfalls, Bluffhill, Epworth and Zengeza to house the identified instigators after the expected bloody confrontations.”

The schemers behind “Operation Lighthouse” hoped the bloodshed would have led to foreign intervention under the guise of “protecting human rights”.

But the nascent plan was blunted by alert security agents according to The Sunday Mail.