Zimbabwe: As 1 war veteran makes bail, 2 more arrested

By John Cassim

HARARE, Zimbabwe

As the crackdown intensifies on war veterans, two more leaders of a veterans group were arrested in Zimbabwe outside a courthouse where the group’s spokesman made bail on charges of insulting 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe.

Police in the capital Harare picked up Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association Secretary General Victor Matemadanda and Political Commissar Francis Nhando outside the Magistrate Court where they had gone to show solidarity with fellow leader, Douglas Mahiya.

There was drama at the magistrate’s court when the police tried to whisk away the two war veterans’ leaders into their police truck without the knowledge of their lawyers, who swiftly tried to intervene.

Hundreds of war veterans together with opposition activists and members of civil society who were outside the court broke into revolutionary songs and tried to block the police car but were outpaced.

The two are likely going to face the same charges of insulting and undermining the authority of the president following the July 21 communiqué calling on the aged country’s leader to resign for misrule.

Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrests Monday evening, and analysts say these arrests are as a result of the crackdown on the war veterans because they criticized Mugabe.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for 36 years and some, including those in his own ruling ZANU PF, accuse him of being responsible for the economic collapse that has caused so much suffering for ordinary people.

Mahiya was arrested last week Wednesday but first appeared in court Friday over the communiqué. Mahiya was remanded in custody up to Monday when the bail hearing was held.

Although state prosecutors tried to block the war veteran leader from gaining his freedom, the presiding magistrate turned back their efforts.

Mahiya was finally released on $300 and asked to appear again in court on Aug. 12.

“Mr. Mahiya has been granted $300 bail, but the prosecution tried to come up with other ways of blocking his freedom, but the magistrate dismissed their application,” Harrison Nkomo, Mahiya’s lawyer, told reporters outside the courthouse.

The crackdown on former Mugabe allies who participated in the liberation war started last week when the president gave a directive that police should arrest and have them punished for crafting and publishing the communiqué.

Some war veterans have begun losing their land, which they got in the early 2000 from white commercial farmers in a violent land grab.

“Mr. Mugabe is bitter that we have begun criticizing his brutal rule and hence has started taking away farms which we benefited from during the land reform,” said one veteran present at the court.

High-profile people that thronged the court to show their solidarity included Vice President Joyce Mujuru, who clashed with Mugabe on allegations she was plotting to topple her boss.

Former Education Minister Fay Chung, War Veterans Chairman Christopher Mutsvangwa, opposition party leaders, civil society activists, and ordinary citizens were also in court to show solidarity with war veterans.