Police raid Tsvangirai’s rural home 29/05/02
By Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief Reporter
THE Buhera rural home of Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president, was on Sunday night raided by more than 20 heavily armed men in riot police gear, aided by two notorious war veterans, who severely assaulted two of Tsvangirai’s employees.
The police, armed with AK rifles, are believed to have been looking for arms of war and MDC supporters who had allegedly committed arson in the Marume area of the district last week. Washington Maposa and Eric Munhanga said they were assaulted by the riot police who were accompanied by war veterans Bernard Makuwe and a Mudzamiri, both mentioned by witnesses in the High Court last year as having taken part in the petrol bomb murder in 2000 of two MDC activists, Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya.
In Harare yesterday, Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesperson, refused to comment on the raid. Bvudzijena said: “Ruhanya, what makes you think that I will speak to you today?” Tsvangirai yesterday condemned the raid and the beatings as illegal acts by the police. He said: “These are serious acts of lawlessness. The police should appreciate that Maposa and Munhanga have every right to work. They also need to appreciate that as a law-abiding citizen of this country, I possess the right to privacy.
“If the police want to search my city or rural home they need to have search warrants. This is the legal position. They should know that as a law-abiding citizen I do not keep arms of war.” Tsvangirai’s lawyer, Simbarashe Muzenda, said yesterday he had instructions to investigate the incident before taking legal action against the police for violating Tsvangirai’s constitutional freedoms. Muzenda said: “I will approach the officer-in-charge at Buhera Police Station to identify his officers and find out if they had a search warrant to raid Tsvangirai’s home.”
He said legal action would be taken against the police once the facts of the matter were established. “I am yet to establish reasons for the alleged arrest of MDC supporters with a view to representing them.”
Maposa, the caretaker at Tsvangirai’s home, said the uniformed police were driven in two trucks while others arrived on foot around 6p.m, demanding entry into the yard. ''As I took them into the yard, one assaulted me with the butt of an AK rifle, accusing me of hiding weapons in my bedroom. They searched my room but found nothing. ''They later proceeded to search Tsvangirai's main house, including the kitchen,'' Maposa said.
''They told me I should not work for Tsvangirai and I should leave the place immediately. They accused me of keeping a gun. I denied this allegation. I am not a bodyguard but a mere caretaker,'' said Maposa, adding that he did not report the matter to the police because it was the police who attacked him for no apparent reason.
He said this was the second police invasion of the home since the presidential election, controversially won by President Mugabe in March. ''At the end of March seven armed policemen raided and searched Tsvangirai's home, accusing me of keeping people who had allegedly assaulted Zanu PF supporters in the area. We are not safe here because violence is being perpetrated by the police who are supposed to protect us,'' Maposa said.
Munhanga, who stays with Tsvangirai's 70-year-old mother, Lydia, said he was severely beaten for working for the MDC leader. He alleged he was bundled into a police truck and driven to Jaggers business centre about five kilometres from the Buhera district offices, where Makuwe operates a shop. On the way, the police took turns to beat him, he alleged. Munhanga said the police wanted to know where Lydia was, but when he told them she had gone to Harare to visit her son, they accused him of lying and struck him with batons.
He sustained injuries on his back from the beatings. ''When we arrived at the shopping centre, Makuwe bought beer for the men in police uniform in one of the shops. I was later taken to Buhera police station, where I was released without charge,'' said Munhanga. He said at the police station he saw a number of MDC supporters arrested by the police on allegations of political violence.
|
|
You can make a difference
|
|
 |
Make a donation |
|
Support Zimbabwe at an event |
|
Lobby your local Government member |
|
Become a member of the ZIC |
|
