Kwekwe Central MP Masango Matambanadzo (Zanu PF) has clashed with the police in Kwekwe after the law enforcers allegedly ordered illegal gold miners to surrender their machetes to Zanu PF youths to end violent clashes which have rocked Amaveni.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
Sometime last month, the officer-in-charge (crime) for Kwekwe Central, Erick Batoni, chaired a meeting in Amaveni also attended by Matambanadzo which sought to find solutions to the violence rocking the community caused mainly by illegal gold panners.
It is during the meeting that Batoni allegedly agreed to have all illegal gold panners hand over their machetes to Zanu PF youths
In a sworn affidavit, Batoni submitted that he agreed to the suggestion by the panners that the weapons be handed over to Zanu PF.
“It was agreed in that meeting that machetes are to be surrendered to the youth personnel of Zanu PF HQ, Kwekwe, as a measure to show that people are committed to see that the peace initiative schemes become a success,” read the affidavit.
This was reportedly opposed by Matambanadzo and his aides, Agritty Dube and Angela Nyati, who felt the solution agreed to by the police was not workable.
Matambanadzo’s lawyer, Liberty Mashanyare, said his client sought to stop the move because although he is a member of the ruling party, he was not happy with the police trusting youths with dangerous weapons.
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“It did not make sense to my client that the police were abdicating their duties to Zanu PF youths,” he said.
Batoni confirmed the standoff in his affidavit accusing the MP of pushing a political agenda.
“I discovered that they had influenced other members not to surrender their machetes . . . I noticed that they were now pursuing a political agenda than a peace initiative,” he wrote.
Police later moved in to arrest Matambanadzo’s aides last Thursday accusing them of stealing 12 tonnes of gold ore from Jessia Mine Syndicate.
They were taken to court with the State saying the matter would proceed by way summons.
Mashanyare said his clients were being victimised for standing by the law.
“It is clear that the arrest and detention of Dube and Nyati is because they stood by the MP in demanding that the police should do their work,” Mashanyare said.
