Expelled MDC Chair was behind PM booing

By Brilliant Pongo

Ephraim Tapa an expelled member of the MDC UK executive in 2007 is being accused of leading a rowdy mob of ‘planted’ people who disrupted the address by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the Southwark Anglican Cathedral in London on Saturday.

Tsvangirai appealed to exiles living in the diaspora to come back home and help rebuild the country. But Nehanda Radio can now reveal that a carefully planned stunt by Tapa’s pet organisation, Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) resulted in a small section of the carefully lined up group booing the Prime Minister.

While it is generally accepted that most exiles are not willing to go back to Zimbabwe for now, Tsvangirai’s ‘come back home’ appeal was not considered outrageous enough to have attracted a booing response. Tapa bitter at his removal as MDC UK chairman two years ago was determined to get his revenge.

‘I was sitted next to Tapa’s group inside the church and they all knew each other and carefully coordinated their stunt. If you look at the television footage of the disruption you will see it came mainly from the left side of the church from where Tsvangirai was speaking from and facing,’ one student who attended told us.

In 2007 Nehanda Radio reported how Tapa had secretly set up a website www.zimdiaspora.com which he used to attack Tsvangirai and his leadership of the MDC. Despite Tapa denying any links with the site we were able to expose him as the registered owner along with one Peter Nyoni using domain registration records.

Nyoni has since written to us asking us to retract the information on the website ownership claiming it is false. Investigations by Nehanda Radio however revealed that www.zimdiaspora.com was registered by Tapa and Nyoni on the 25th of September 2007 under the address 21 Kneller House, Union Groove, London, SW8 2RR, Great Britain.

The contact number listed on the registration also happened to be Tapa’s mobile phone 07940793090. Betraying the syndicate is that the address also happened to be the home of former Secretary Julius Mutyambizi, Tapa’s side kick.

Another group blamed for disrupting Tsvangirai’s address is the Zimbabwe Vigil who have essentially created a home for ROHR at their weekly vigils at the Zimbabwean Embassy in London every Saturday. Coordinator Rose Benton tried to distance themselves from the disruption by claiming, ‘our purpose was to welcome Tsvangirai but also to remind him of what people in the Diaspora think needs to be done if Zimbabwe is to win the confidence of donors and investors and be a welcoming place for returning exiles.’

‘The Vigil was there to greet his convoy when it arrived. Displaying our banners ‘No to Mugabe, No to Starvation’ and ‘End Murder, Rape and Torture in Zimbabwe’, we danced and drummed and sang ‘To save Zimbabwe, Mugabe must go’.  The Prime Minister could not have failed to see our posters ‘Protect Human Rights Activists’, ‘Restore the Rule of Law’ and ‘End Farm Invasions’.