Police in Zimbabwe have arrested a top civil rights leader and the mayor of a major city for allegedly inciting public violence, according to local reports on Thursday.
Chitungwiza mayor Misheck Shoko, of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested for ”inciting people to carry out an illegal demonstration in the town”, the state-controlled Herald newspaper said.
It was not immediately clear when Shoko was arrested. Last week, the Zimbabwe government announced it was taking over the running of the affairs of the city of Chitungwiza, as it has already done in the capital, Harare.
The Herald said Shoko was in police custody on Wednesday night and was expected to appear in court soon.
Meanwhile, in a separate swoop on Tuesday morning, police arrested Lovemore Madhuku, the head of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), spokesperson Jessie Majome said. He is being held at a police station in Harare’s low-income suburb of Mbare, she said.
”There’s been undue delay in bringing him to court and laying charges. They [the police] want to charge him under the Public Order and Security Act with inciting public violence,” Majome said in a telephone interview.
At the weekend, the NCA called for countrywide demonstrations to lobby for a new Constitution and to protest elections for a new Senate due later this month.
At least 14 people were arrested during those demonstrations, while more than 150 people were detained on Tuesday during anti-poverty demonstrations called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Most of those arrested are still reported to be in custody.
Tensions are rising in Zimbabwe, where paramilitary police have been seen patrolling the streets of some cities ahead of the November 26 Senate election.
The country’s police chief has threatened to crush any political violence ahead of the poll.
”Senate elections are only two weeks away… [I] take this opportunity to reassure the nation that everyone’s peace and security will be ensured before, during and after the elections,” police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri said in quotes carried by the Herald.
”Political violence will be dealt with immediately and decisively without fear or favour,” Chihuri said.
Police accused the NCA of throwing a petrol bomb at a police post in central Harare on Saturday. But the NCA denied any involvement in the attack, which injured one police officer. — Sapa-DPA