Maravi

(HERALD) Tsvangirai’s tale of lies

Tsvangirai’s tale of lies
Sunday, 17 April 2011 01:04 Top Stories
By Munyaradzi Huni

MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai has raised false alarm in the region that Zimbabwe could face uprisings similar to the ones taking place in North Africa by submitting a report to the GPA facilitation team claiming that the 45 activists who were recently arrested for trying to do an Egyptian-style revolt in the country were members of his party being persecuted by the Attorney-General.

Since their arrest in February this year, together with their leader Munyaradzi Gwisai, who was expelled from the MDC for being “too democratic”, the 45 activists have been described as “labour activists who included Aids activists” or “social and human rights activists”.

The activists were drawn from the International Socialist Organisation, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Zimbabwe National Students’ Association and the Medical Professions and Allied Workers’ Union after convening an unsanctioned public meeting to view uprisings in North Africa as a strategy to do the same in the country.
In his glossy and fancy report to the facilitation team, Mr Tsvangirai, under the section entitled “The Manipulation of the Judiciary”, claimed that the Attorney-General, Mr Johannes Tomana, through his representatives, the prosecutors, has since April 2008 invoked Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act to fix members of his party.
Said Mr Tsvangirai in the report: “The provisions of Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act empower the Attorney-General to temporarily suspend a court’s decision to grant an accused person bail.

“The Attorney-General’s representatives, that are the prosecutors, can invoke Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act by simply announcing to the magistrate or judge who has granted bail. The accused person is then immediately remanded into custody without being granted the opportunity to make representations to the court. In terms of the Act, the Attorney-General is then granted seven days within which to lodge the State’s appeal during which period the accused person remains in custody.

“The Attorney-General, through his representatives, has since April 2008 been routinely invoking Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act whenever prominent MDC members . . . are granted bail by the courts . . .

“The examples listed above (names of the alleged victims) demonstrate clearly that in most cases where Section 121 is invoked there is no intention on the part of the Attorney-General at the time of the invocation to lodge an official appeal in terms of the law. This conclusion is derived from the fact that in the majority of cases listed below the Attorney-General has in the end not lodged any appeal against the court’s decision to grant bail despite signalling his intention to do so at the time of the invocation of Section 121.”

Mr Tsvangirai went on to list Gwisai and the 45 activists as victims of the AG’s abuse of Section 121 despite clear court records showing that 40 of the activists have since been discharged. Court records show that only six of the activists, including Gwisai, are still facing treason charges.

Following the blatant lies by Mr Tsvangirai, the AG’s office, which in the past week has finally been given the opportunity to respond to the MDC-T allegation, an opportunity it was not given before the Troika meeting in Zambia, poured scorn on the allegations that prosecutors have invoked Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act only for political reasons to fix the MDC-T members.

A member of South Africa’s ANC familiar with the disclosure by Mr Tsvangirai about the 45 activists, who The Sunday Mail regularly contacts to seek clarification on such matters, confirmed that he was aware that the activists were arrested for trying to do an Egyptian-style in Zimbabwe but expressed surprise that the MDC-T was now claiming in its report to the facilitation team that these were its members.

He further confirmed that “it’s the circumstances and fate of these 45 individuals as described to Sadc leaders by Mr Tsvangirai which has given rise to concerns and fears, unfounded as they may be, that Zimbabwe faces an Egyptian-style revolution”.
The ANC source went on to say that “it’s highly irresponsible for the MDC-T to create a false situation such as this with the apparent objective of misleading the leadership in Sadc for cheap political purposes.”

The claim by the MDC-T leader that the 45 were members of his party has raised eyebrows because initially these were thought to be independent activists with no connection to any political party.

The claim has also raised eyebrows within Sadc security and intelligence authorities who have said this has exposed the MDC-T and its handlers as the forces behind what was “clearly a reckless, unlawful and treasonous failed attempt to use the North African uprising to incite violence in Zimbabwe”.

Some of the security and intelligence representatives from the region were in the country over the past week to mourn their colleague, Cde Menard Muzariri.
The disclosure by the MDC-T leader has given further support to the recent submission by Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs which shows that the overwhelming majority of political violence in Zimbabwe, especially in recent months, despite spirited denials, is either instigated or organised by the MDC-T.

- The Sunday Mail

Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, MUNYARADZI GWISAI

posted by MrK @ 12:47 PM