MDC-T official arrested over assassination plot

HARARE- An MDC-T official, who in November 2010 hit the headlines over a sex scandal involving a junior party worker, has now been arrested on allegations of plotting to assassinate Smart Mesa, a member of the party’s security department.

MDC-T director-general Toendepi Shonhe was arrested upon his arrival from South Africa on Sunday and charged under case number H/C PR875/2/12. According to the police the alleged plot was foiled in January, forcing Shonhe to flee to South Africa.

Speaking to Nehanda Radio.com MDC-T national spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora confirmed Shonhe’s arrest saying he (Shonhe) went to the police station after hearing that they were looking for him. By late yesterday evening, Shonhe was still in police custody.

Details of the case are that on January 27 Shonhe allegedly assigned bouncers identified as Skipper, Tiger and Diva, under the leadership of one Moffat Aliseni, to kill Mesa together with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s personal aide, Dennis Murira.

Aliseni is said to have enlisted another official in the security department who, however, informed Mesa of the alleged plot. Adding intrigue to the case is that a 2009 report of the commission of inquiry into the 2006 assault of former MDC MP Trudy Stevenson accused Mesa of being a CIO agent.

Nehanda Radio.com has a copy of the report which says;

“Indeed, the Commission’s attention was drawn to one member, Smart Mesa, who in its enquiry appeared to be an informer or an operative of the Central Intelligence Organization. The member stated that he is a retired officer of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

“The Commission believes that he was more than just an officer of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. He has made his way into the Party structures, to the highest levels of the Harare Province Security Department, yet nobody could explain to this Commission how he had gone from being an ordinary member of the security structures for the province, to heading it almost overnight.”

In November 2010 Shonhe, and fellow MDC-T worker Sandra Mutsimba who are both married, were caught red-handed by Mutsimba’s estranged husband who happened to have booked into the same hotel. Instead of showing any remorse the bulky Shonhe is alleged to have assaulted the husband during a scuffle.