Five members of the National Democratic Working Group (NDWG), a political group led by former Zengeza West MP, Job Sikhala, were arrested in Kuwadzana, Harare, on Saturday, June 29.
In a statement, the NDWG accused the police of “overzealousness”, adding the government was increasingly becoming “paranoid” following revelations of alleged corruption involving very senior civil servants and elite politicians.
The NDWG said its arrested members were distributing monthly food handouts to less privileged Kuwadzana residents.
The arrested activists who are currently in police custody are Edmore Svinurai, Emily Mwali, Isaya Ndawana, Patience Ndoro and Regina Aniwute.
NDWG Director of Information and Communications, Courage Shumba, said:
Every province gathers monthly subscriptions for carrying out its social responsibility task to assist the vulnerable in our society with basic needs like food, clothing, sanitary wares, exercise books and partial payment of school fees to selected vulnerable children in a country that has no social safety nets .
Today, the police pounced on the provincial social awareness and safety net meeting and arrested the NDWG leadership gathered to help the elderly and the orphans.
They were arrested at the private residence of Regina Aniwute. The police are pressing charges of gathering without police clearance.
The meeting was never a political gathering but a social justice interaction of persons who have been doing good for poor and the vulnerable at a private residence of one of its members.
NDWG comprises churches, students, businesses and other interest groups.
The arrest of the five NDWG follows the arrest of seventy-nine people linked to CCC over two weeks ago for attending an event in which they were commemorating International Day of the African Child at party leader Jameson Timba’s Harare residence.
The CCC activists are languishing in remand prison on charges of participating in a gathering with the intent to promote violence, breaches of peace or bigotry as well as disorderly conduct.
Last week, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Jenfan Muswere, threatened to deal ruthlessly with political activists and non-governmental organisations said to be planning to stage protests.
Muswere warned that law enforcement agents will be deployed to ensure that instigators of violence are swiftly apprehended and that peace and tranquillity prevail throughout the country.
The warnings follow the imprisonment of businessmen Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe, associated with ZANU PF, on charges of defrauding the government of US$7.3 million intended for a poverty-alleviation program under the Presidential Goat Pass-on scheme.
They were entrusted with procuring over 600,000 goats for rural households but allegedly misappropriated the funds by purchasing only 4,200 low-grade goats and inflating the invoices.
Additionally, Mpofu and Chimombe have been implicated in a US$40 million Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) tender, which has also implicated Wicknell Chivayo, a former convict with close ties to Mnangagwa.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has arrested Mpofu and Chimombe in relation to this case.
ZACC has stated that it is keen to interview Chivayo as well, but has not yet called him in for questioning.
Mpofu and Chimombe were arrested after they wrote to a South African company that allegedly supplied election materials for the 2023 general elections, complaining that Chivayo had sidelined them from the deal.
It appears that their attempts to challenge Chivayo over the “irregular” ZEC tender and demand a share of the profits have backfired on them.
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