Joanna Mamombe’s lawyers this afternoon revealed that the Harare West MP has been admitted at a mental institution for the past few weeks and was therefore unable to attend the court case where she is facing charges of faking her abduction, together with Netsai Marova and Cecilia Chimbiri.
ZANU PF leaders have been accusing the three of faking their abduction and have publicly released information showing the three were not abducted but were
Abductions, Illegal Detentions and Disappearances
- Zimbabwe’s politics is highly polarised and there is a culture of intolerance. There have been cases of abductions, illegal detentions, murder and disappearances . To name a few – Strive Masiyiwa, Mutumwa Mawere, Philip Chiyangwa, Themba Mliswa, Tendai Biti, Morgan Tsvangirai, Fadzai Mahere.
- When asked by the courts to reaveal agents who were involved in abductions, the Zimbabwe government has refused to do so.
- The security services in Zimbabwe are heavily involved in politics. The intelligence services openly support ZANU-PF.
- Recent abductions have involved unknown or politically vulnerable people by groups that are not in the mainstream security services taking orders from unknown people and often they are wearing masks and their identities are not revealed. Those that come to mind include Dr Peter Magombeyi, Gonyeti, Star Dewah, Namatai Kwekwedza, Tsitsi Dangarwmbwa.
Why Would Anyone Fake An Abduction?
The ZANU-PF government has accused the opposition of faking abductions so as to get international attention and sympathy.
- ZANU-PF has blamed the opposition of working with the US embassy to fake abductions.
- Victims of abduction want to get scholarships and awards
- MDC Alliance want to get international intervention.
What is the solution?
One of the biggest problems is the winner take all mentality. The opposition is only interested in ZANU-PF being removed and ZANU-PF is only interested in keeping the opposition out of power.
The end result is that the economy of Zimbabwe will never recover.
The solution is dialogue! Both parties need to back down and make some changes.
The biggest change that needs to be made is for the government and opposition to drop their antagonistic approach. Both need to learn to co-exist. The use of hate speech and dirty tactics need to be replaced by a new culture of shared co-existence.
The end result of the dialogue should be reforms and the opposition should be allowed space. However, this is difficult because ZANU-PF is afraid of losing power.
