By Wezhira Munya
Currently, members of the Citizens Coalition for Change [CCC] in Masvingo west are detained at Masvingo Central Police Station.
The two CCC members in custody are Prillan Ziyavo and Bothwell Ziyavo.
According to their lawyer, Advocate Frank Chirairo,
“The two above are the accused persons who were arrested yesterday at around 16:00 hours for allegedly engaging in public violence. However, they denied the false allegations.”
He [Advocate Chirairo] said, “The true facts are that my clients were assaulted by Persistence Chiondegwa [a Zanu PF member] and other Zanu PF members for having refused to be assisted in the voting process on the 23rd of August 2023 during the harmonized elections at Kingmine in Mashava.”
He mention that FAZ is involved. “It is alleged that Zanu PF and Forever Associates of Zimbabwe [FAZ] were forcing perceived CCC members to vote for Zanu PF candidates.”
FAZ literally camped a few meters away from polling stations on the 23rd of August 2023, recording voters’ names before and after they voted.
Advocate Chirairo went on to say, “The two accused persons defended themselves from the unlawful attack by Zanu PF members and filed a police report in Mashava.”
As usual, ZanuPF had to use the police to direct the accusations to the victim. “In a turn of events, after Zanu PF members used their political influence, the two CCC members were then arrested as perpetrators of violence”, said Advocate Chirairo.
This afternoon, the accused persons went to the Masvingo Magistrate Court where the prosecutors stated they would proceed with the case if the complainant is available.
Unfortunately, the complainant was unavailable, resulting in the two being taken back to the Masvingo Criminal Investigation Department [CID] Law and Order for re-detention until their initial appearance in court tomorrow.
Masvingo West is one of the constituencies where many cases of political violence were recorded before, during and after the elections on the 23rd of August 2013.
