Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) leader, Mqondisi Moyo, has expressed outrage over the jailing of nine party members known as the MRP9 for public violence and accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of being vindictive.
Bulawayo magistrate Tavengwa Sangster last Friday sentenced seven members of the MRP to 33 months while the other two were jailed for 36 months.
The jailed activists include two women, MRP women’s National League Chairperson Sibongile Banda and Busi Moyo.
The other members are the Council of Elders representative -Tinos Nkomo, MRP Youth Chairperson, Mongameli Mlotshwa including his team – Livson Ncube, Maxwell Nkosi, Welcome Moyo, Nkosilathi Ncube, and Ackim Ndebele.
The MRP leader wrote a letter directed to Mnangagwa and copied to his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, Justice Minister (Ziyambi Ziyambi), Minister of Home Affairs, Kazembe Kazembe, Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga, Moses Chinobvu who is the prisons’ Commissioner General, Bulawayo Provincial Head of the Judiciary, magistrate Tavengwa, the British Embassy, the United States Embassy as well as the Australian Embassy. Part of the letter reads:
I am writing to you now because of the ruling that was made against the MRP9. I have no doubt the ruling is consistent with the statement you made while addressing your supporters on May 23 (at a Chitungwiza rally prior to the March 26th by-elections).
In your address as the president of Zimbabwe, you openly said you were going to shorten the days of our lives if we continued on the path of seeking separation from Zimbabwe.
You said that you had not arrested us yet, though to me it was a fallacy because I and many members of the party have been in and out of your jails countless times…
Sentencing our MRP9 has so far, been the worst repressive measure demonstrating cruelty by your government using your partisan judiciary system.
I put it to you Emmerson Mnangagwa, that I am aware that the ruling made against our revolutionary cadres has got nothing to do with the aforementioned March 2021 Bulawayo Central Police station incident.
The MRP9 were arrested after they stormed the Bulawayo central police station and protested over the attempted abduction of Moyo by suspected state security agents in 2021.