By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
Zanu PF activist, Energy Mutodi, has apologised for claiming that the abduction of journalist Itai Dzamara was stage managed. The apology came after Dzamara’s younger brother, Patson, released images he believed were those of Itai.
Patson claimed that he had received the images, one of which showed him with his face wrapped over and in a tent, from people with links to the security sector.
Dzamara, whose whereabouts remain unknown, was on 9 March 2015 snatched from Glen Norah in Harare by unknown abductors who are widely believed to be State security agents.
The journalist turned political activist had been leading a growing lobby, Occupy Africa Unity Square (OAUS), for President Robert, accused of leadership failure by his critics, to leave power.
Mutodi, a controversial businessman and former school teacher, in March last year claimed that Dzamara had skipped into Botswana where he was living comfortably.
In a surprising turn, Mutodi recently issued a statement in which he admitted that he was among people who believed Dzamara had staged a false abduction with the help of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
“When the journalist (Dzamara) went missing, we all suspected it was a hoax by the MDC party to cause mayhem in the country and to precipitate an Arab Spring type of uprising against the government of President Mugabe,” said Mutodi.
The 2011 Arab Springs swept through Egypt, Tunisia and Libya when masses of people protested against their governments and led to the removal of their leaders.
Mutodi accused a young Zanu (PF) activist, Fidelis Fengu, of misleading him to post on Facebook that Dzamara had fled for Botswana.
At the same time, current Higher and Tertiary Education minister, Jonathan Moyo, who was then in charge of the information portfolio, claimed that Dzamara was in Mozambique and said the government could not be held responsible for missing persons since Zimbabwe’s borders were too porous.
Mutodi said, a few months after denigrating Dzamara’s abduction, he received information that contradicted what Fengu had told him.
The losing parliamentary candidate said he shared the information with the police and Patson but could not do so with the public since the matter was under investigation.
“I wish Itai a safe return from wherever he is. I also regret my post on March 14 as it later came to my realization that it was a creation of one of our fellow activists, Fidelis, who desperately wanted to save the government from international condemnation following the abduction by suspected state security agents.
He added: “Zimbabweans are suffering and it is evil to abduct, incarcerate or ill-treat anyone simply for demanding his rights and good governance…Government needs to tolerate dissent and divergent views.”
Political parties, embassies and human rights defenders have roundly condemned Dzamara’s abduction.
A joint investigative team from the police, military and central intelligence was tasked by the courts to investigate the abduction and give periodical reports on progress made.
State authorities still claim that there have not yet found leads regarding Dzamara’s disappearance amid calls for an independent probe conducted by external investigators.
Discover more from Nehanda Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
