Police arrest MDC lawmaker for theft-report

HARARE, July 29 (Reuters) – Zimbabwean police arrested a deputy minister from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party for alleged theft, state media reported on Wednesday, in a move that could raise tensions in the unity government.

Five MDC lawmakers have been convicted of various crimes since Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe formed a power-sharing government in February, and several more face an assortment of charges.

Deputy Youth Minister Thamsanqa Mahlangu, also the MDC’s youth chairman, is said to have stolen a mobile phone belonging to Joseph Chinotimba, a staunch Mugabe ally and leader of a group of veterans of Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation war, the Herald newspaper said.

It said the theft took place during a government workshop on a “National Shared Vision”, at which the two shared a table.

“I can confirm Mahlangu’s arrest on charges of theft which occurred on July 17. Two other people are being charged,” police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena told the Herald.

“They are being charged with breaching sections of the Telecommunications Services Act — using a cellphone line without the consent of the owner.”

Bvudzijena was not immediately reachable for comment.

The MDC has accused Mugabe of plotting to reduce the party’s parliamentary majority through the arrest and jailing of its lawmakers.

According to Zimbabwean law, members of parliament lose their seats if they are jailed for more than six months.

Tsvangirai’s MDC won 100 seats in a March 2008 general election to become the biggest party in Zimbabwe’s 210-member lower House of Assembly, ahead of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF with 99. A smaller MDC faction controls 10 seats and one went to an independent lawmaker.