Recently bailed Promise Mkwananzi arrested at roadblock

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

Police arrested Promise Mkwananzi, the #Tajamuka national spokesperson mid-morning on Tuesday for allegedly talking on his cellphone as he drove.

Mkwananzi confirmed the arrest and said he had been summoned to Harare Central police station.

By late afternoon, he posted on social media that he was still being held by the police, fearing that he would likely be detained.

He, however, denied ever talking on his phone and insisted that only two traffic police officers manned the roadblock at which he was arrested.

“I wasn’t talking on the phone. My phone was off. This is the third time being charged for completely non-existent charges,” he wrote.

He added: “(A policeman is intimidating, pushing and shoving me and threatening to beat me baton sticks. (It is) one officer called Masaire,” he said.

Mkwananzi was taken to the Law and Order section which usually handles politically-related cases despite the fact that motorists who commit the same offence are made to pay a spot fine or taken to the traffic section.

He was recently released from remand prison on $100 bail after spending some three weeks for allegedly causing public violence during a demonstration against police brutality late last month. Mkwananzi has another pending public violence case. Nehanda Radio