Opposition Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) party activists, who were jailed for violence and bigotry say their imprisonment hardened their resolve to continue the struggle for the restoration of the Mthwakazi State.
They were speaking during a welcome party organised by their party in Nketa on Saturday after being released from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
MRP’s national chairperson, Mongameli Xukuthwayo Mlotshwa, who was among the party members who were recently freed from prison, said they suffered ill-treatment during his two-year incarceration. Said Mlotshwa:
They arrested me as the chairperson of the party, it’s just a curve on the way. In every struggle, there is always a cross to carry.
We will continue with the struggle, the ill-treatment that we suffered in jail will not deter us, this is a movement or a revolution, whoever is arresting us is making things worse.
There is a lot that we learn in jail, even pastors preach saying people must cater for those in prison, but they do not know the experience in jail.
We started in Khami Prison, then transferred to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. Even prison officials were shocked to hear that.
We heard that it was a command from a higher authority. We were told that we could not be transferred because the instructions were supposed to come from the high command that ended up compromising the rights of other Ndebele-speaking inmates who were supposed to be transferred as well.
Mlotshwa stated that he and Welcome Moyo, who was also released alongside him, were apprehended after visiting the Bulawayo Central Police Station to engage in dialogue with the police regarding their nighttime surveillance.
Mlotshwa and Moyo were among nine MRP members who were sent to jail by Bulawayo magistrate Tavengwa Sangster in June 2022.
Mlotshwa and Moyo were slapped with 36-month jail terms, while seven others namely, Nkosinathi Ncube, Tinos Nkomo (73) Levison Ncube (62), Sibongile Banda (57), Busi Moyo (52, Ackim Ndebele and Maxwell Nkosi were sentenced to 33 months in jail for violence.
On August 28, 2022, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) transferred Mlotshwa, Nkosinathi, Nkomo, Levison, Ndebele, Welcome, Sibongile Banda and Busi to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare following a directive from authorities.
Only Nkosi was transferred to Gwanda.
The Mthwakazi Republic Party is a political organisation established in 2014. This party is characterised as both secessionist and restorationist, aiming to establish an independent state separate from Zimbabwe while also reviving the Mthwakazi kingdom.
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