MDC MP to languish in jail

By Tarisai Machakaire

MDC Harare West MP Joana Mamombe will have to languish in remand prison after the court dismissed her application challenging placement on remand in a subversion case. She will be back in court on March 19.

Mamombe was being represented by Obey Shava who had made the application on the basis that his client was not fully advised of the treason charges at arrest, 48 hours had lapsed by the time she appeared in court and that there was no reasonable suspicion for the offence she was being charged for.

However, Harare magistrate Rumbidzayi Mugwagwa dismissed the application.

“Although the arresting officer who testified in court was not eloquent, clearly the accused person was advised of her charge upon arrest.

“This is so because after being arrested she even had time with the speaker of Parliament,” Mugwagwa ruled.

“The accused person was in court before lapse of the 48 hour provision but her matter only had to wait because the court was overwhelmed with other cases.”

Mamombe said before her arrest, her mother was put under house arrest by unidentified security agents who demanded to know her whereabouts.

“I had gone for a Media and Parliamentary Workshop in Nyanga and around midnight of February 25 my mother called saying she was in trouble because six men were at the house looking for me. The second call was from one of the men who was at my mother’s house and he told me that I was in hot soup,” she said

Her lawyer argued that the 48-hour provision had been breached. Shava also claimed that one of the arresting details Dennis Muroyiwa was a bogus cop who had been sent by the army to execute Mamombe’s arrest.

Muroyiwa claimed to be a member of CID law and order but failed to name his superiors or appreciate basic police procedures.

“You do not know anything about police structures; you do not even know your previous boss nor the department where you are supposedly based. Who is making you masquerade as an officer and when are you going to return to the barracks?” Shava queried.

Allegations against Mamombe emerged on January 14, 2019, when she held a presser at Civic Centre, Marlborough in Harare in her capacity as MDC MP.

The court heard that Momombe together with members of her constituency planned to join hands with other trade unions to coerce and invite them to overthrow president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.

It is further alleged that the 25-year-old legislator urged members of her constituency to resort to civil disobedience and demonstrations to shut down Zimbabwe in response to public outcry over fuel price hikes, shortages and high cost of living.

The court heard that between January 14 and 16, 2019 and in response to Mamombe’s presser, members of the opposition, various trade unionists, pressure groups, youth forums and members of the public engaged in violent protests across the country.

As a result property was destroyed, lives were lost, several police officers and members of the public were also injured. DailyNews