FOUR officials in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office were yesterday charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act and illegal possession of documents.
Report by Feluna Nleya
Thabani Mpofu, a director for research in the Prime Minister’s Office, Felix Matsinde, Warship Dumba and Mehluli Tshuma were arrested on Sunday for allegedly impersonating a police officer.
Their lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who was also arrested on Sunday and is facing separate charges of obstructing the course of justice, spent her third night in custody last night.
Harare provincial magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa remanded her in custody to today for bail application.
Gofa said she could not release the prominent human rights lawyer on the grounds that the High Court order directing her release that was issued on Sunday was directed to the police.
The matter was rolled over to today after State prosecutor Michael Reza asked for postponement to respond to the submissions made by Mtetwa’s lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu.
“In as much as bail applications are known to be urgent, the State still has to be given ample time to research and be able to respond,” Gofa said.
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Advocate Mpofu argued that the State’s allegations were “senseless”, arguing her arrest was an attack on the legal profession. He also submitted that Mtetwa was subjected to humiliation by male police officers who broke into her cell around midnight and took away her blanket.
He said Mtetwa was denied access to the bathroom and visitors while in detention.
According to the State outline, Mtetwa is alleged to have told the police officers conducting a search at her client Thabani Mpofu’s house to stop whatever they were doing, saying “it was unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic”.
The police also allege that Mtetwa caused “confusion and commotion” that disturbed the flow of traffic along the road.
She is also alleged to have said: “I am taking these pictures of what you are doing and send them to the international community.”
Mtetwa was arrested when she went to assist Mpofu, Felix Matsinde, Dumba and Tshuma following their arrest.
The four are being charged with contravening section 4(3) of the Official Secrets Act that criminalises publishing or communicating of certain information deemed prejudicial to the State and possession of articles for criminal use.
It is the State’s case that the four were found in possession of various documents some of which stated the background of Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri.
They also allegedly had a document titled Case for full investigation into the Ministry of Lands, system of issuing offer letters 1 September 2009.
The State alleges another document recovered from Tshuma was titled Johannes Tomana in the Attorney-General’s Office and blank letterheads from the AG’s Office.
It is alleged the quartet’s activities were being funded by the Institute of Democratic Alliance of Zimbabwe.
In the application for bail, their lawyer Alec Muchadehama challenged the State to enquire from Tsvangirai if his clients were not his employees.
He also accused prosecutor Michael Mugabe of being an interested party in the matter.
“Mugabe is opposing bail because he is an interested party since he is mentioned in one of the documents reportedly recovered by police,” Muchadehama said.
“This opposition of bail is not genuine, the AG and other interested parties want to prosecute the accused persons just to cover up for the documents which the police allegedly recovered.”
