FULL TEXT: MDC Calls For Criminal Justice Reform Over Mamombe 'Abduction'

Hon Mamombe’s trial a case for Criminal Justice Reform

Law enforcement has been captured by very dangerous people who are neither police officers nor understand how the Zimbabwe Republic Police operate.

A man named Muroyiwa appeared before the court today testifying that he was the arresting officer responsible for the apprehension of Hon Joanna Mamombe, during cross-examination the following issues were revealed.

I. That the man was not from CID Law and Order Section and neither was he a police officer.

II. That the bunch of people who followed Hon Mamombe at the parliamentary meeting in Nyanga failed to identify themselves, today Muroyiwa produced a defaced police identity card which by his admission could not ascertain his identity. He told the court that there was an impending program to give individuals such as him new ZRP identity cards.

III. Muroyiwa failed to name a single case he dealt with prior to arresting Hon Mamombe in his 3 years of claimed Law and Order service and 7 years of total ZRP service.

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IV. Muroiwa also failed to name departments within the Law and Order section

V. He also failed to identify the senior leaders of the Law and Order section

VI. That Muroyiwa has failed to inform Hon Mamombe of the reason of her arrest and her rights.

VII. That Muroyiwa only arrested the Hon MP without ascertaining reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed, he was not even aware of the words that she uttered at a press conference which constituted an offence.

VIII. More dangerously, Muroyiwa confirmed that he was part of the group which broke into the home of Hon Mamombe’s mother knowing very well that it was not hon Mamombe’s place of residence.

IX. That Hon Mamombe had been detained for over 48 hrs before appearing before a competent court of law as required by the Constitution.

Overall the MDC finds the conduct of the police in handling this matter to be shocking and unacceptable in a democratic society.

Their papers highlight that encouraging people to hold “a peaceful march” and “dressing in black” formed the basis for subverting a constitutionally elected government.

During the hearing, the “officers” who took the witness stand contradicted each other, changed their statements and even produced different versions of the same affidavit.

We find this behaviour to be in contradiction to the conduct of members of the security forces set out in section 208 of the Constitution.

More importantly, the police blatantly violated the supreme law which states that “The police must be non-partisan, national in character, patriotic…”

It is clear that the police has been used to pursue partisan objectives, persecuting members of the people’s party and their families.

The MDC calls for the establishment of the independent complains mechanism set out in section 210 of the constitution.

Hon Mamombe will be back in court on the 5th of March 2019 for a ruling on an application against remand.

Several members of the MDC Parliamentary Caucus attended the proceedings including Hon Happymore Chidziva, Hon Lynnette Karenyi, Hon Prosper Mutseyami, Hon Buda Masara, Hon Regai Tsunga and Hon Starman Chamisa.

MDC Communications Department