Tsvangirai was not arrested - Zim police

Tsvangirai was not arrested - Zim police
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Sunday June 08, 2008 [04:00]

ZIMBABWE police have denied arresting and detaining MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Matebeleland North last week. And the MDC has condemned the Zimbabwean authorities' decision to ban the operations of non-governmental organisations and requesting them to re-apply for accreditation.

Police chief spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena dismissed as false MDC's claims that Tsvangirai was arrested. He said police stopped Tsvangirai's convoy at a routine roadblock in Lupane and that it was discovered that one of the vehicles in the convoy did not have proper registration papers.

Bvudzijena said the motor vehicle in question was South African-registered.

He said the driver of the vehicle failed to produce the relevant documents to prove that the vehicle was in the country legally.

"The driver produced photocopies of documents, yet the legal requirement is to produce original documents. He was asked to accompany the police to the nearest police station and the whole convoy decided to escort him," Bvudzijena said. "The driver was interviewed at the station after which the car was impounded and everyone left the police station. No one was ever arrested or detained. We are keeping the vehicle until we can verify how and where it entered the country."
He also dismissed the insinuation that the police was trying to stop the opposition from conducting political activities.

And MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa yesterday condemned and dismissed the government's move to stop food aid organisations from giving out food to starving Zimbabweans.

"This heartless decision further confirms that the regime does not have the interest of the Zimbabwean people at heart. While over four million people are depending on food handouts, the regime has stopped NGOs from feeding people," Chamisa said. "The beast has revealed its true nature and character.

"It is common knowledge that the regime has no capacity to feed the people.
The chaotic land reform programme has only bred hunger and starvation and the national granaries are virtually empty meaning there is need for other players to help feed the people."

Chamisa urged ZANU-PF to stop interfering with food, which is a critical element.

"The regime's intransigence appears mainly to stem from the fact that on 29 March 2008, the MDC broke the big myth that it was an urban party. ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe were trounced in most rural areas where the majority of the starving population resides," Chamisa said. "It is ironic that Mugabe's regime would ban NGOs from giving out food at a time when he is in Italy attending a food summit where he claimed Zimbabweans were hungry because of sanctions."
He said Zimbabweans were hungry because they had an arrogant regime.

"They are hungry because they have an illegal regime, which wants to use food as a political weapon. Zimbabweans are hungry because the regime cannot allow anyone who wants to hand out food without surrendering it to the conduit of patronage and vote buying," Chamisa said.

The government recently ordered aid agencies to suspend fieldwork. After the March 29 harmonised elections, the government accused some NGOs of political activism with an inclination to the opposition MDC.