Army denies involvement in mysterious visits to Trevor Ncube’s house
By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
The army in Zimbabwe has distanced itself from reported mysterious military visits to Trevor Ncube’s house in recent weeks.
Ncube is the chairman of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) that publishes NewsDay, the Independent, the Standard and Southern Eye.
He has issued out alerts of suspected military agents visiting his Harare home and harassing his staff at the residence.
The latest alert came on Friday, with Ncube, now based in South Africa, saying six men in civilian attire went to his house and demanded to talk to the individuals who had alleged that suspected Presidential Guard and military intelligence operatives had visited his residence.
They were allegedly driving an Isuzu KB twin cab with registration number plate AAX1530 and harassed employees of a private security company that had dispatched a reaction team.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) spokesperson, John Chris Mupande, issued a statement saying the military were not involved in the visits.
“The ZDF takes great exception to reference that its personnel were involved in the visits to Trevor Ncube’s house. Such is tantamount to trivialising as well as criminalising the role of the ZDF,” he said.
“Even the kind of activities that Ncube is involved in, namely publishing, do not constitute the nature of threat that ordinarily or historically warranted the mobilisation of any capabilities of the ZDF,” he said.
“As a national defence institution, we are at all times seized with our primary role of defending Zimbabwe and its interests, as enshrined in our national Constitution, including preparing ourselves for that role. Such interests are not located at private residences of any of our nationals,” read the statement.
On the first spooky visit, unidentified men, according to Ncube, donned berets associated with the Presidential Guard, but Mupande said military fatigue could be abused by anyone.
Ncube’s staff reported the matter to police but the docket is said to have disappeared. Nehanda Radio
