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Job Sikhala
HARARE - Firebrand former St Mary’s legislator and prominent Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) member, Job Sikhala, was still in police custody in Harare late last night after he was arrested at the Beitbridge Border Post earlier in the day while coming from South Africa.
A Facebook posting from the outspoken Sikhala around midday said police were contemplating charging him with treason after he was mired in plots to oust President Robert Mugabe from power.
“We have now arrived at Harare Central Police Station, Law and Order after my arrest at Beitbridge Border Post this morning. They are trying to press treason charges against me. Douglas Mwonzora our (MDC) secretary-general is my lawyer,” he said on his wall.
Earlier in the day, Sikhala had written, “Good friends I have been arrested at the Beitbridge Border Post by officials from the President’s office.
“They are alleging that I am part of the crew that is after overthrowing Mugabe’s regime. Let’s see whether their charges will carry the order of the day in the court of law. I am ready Zimbabweans for the challenge”.
The MDC slammed his arrest yesterday, going on to bemoan the “baffling” fact that he had been detained while his alleged co-conspirators were not similarly arrested — even though the very same State media had said it was Zanu PF heavyweights, including Mujuru, who were at the heart of alleged efforts to oust and assassinate Mugabe.
Sikhala’s surprise arrest also came despite the fact that he had laughed off weekend reports by State media alleging that he had met and conspired with representatives of embattled Vice President Joice Mujuru to plot Mugabe’s unconstitutional removal from power.
“When your country is under the stewardship of the demented, they always fear their shadows. Today I laughed my lungs out kuti mai vangu chavakafira, hapana chavakaona. (my late mother missed out on this contrived drama),” he said soon after the reports surfaced.
Police spokespersons were not taking calls from the Daily News last night to shed more light on Sikhala’s incarceration.
But his lawyer Mwonzora confirmed that the outspoken politician had been transferred from Beitbridge to Harare.
“He was arrested at Beitbridge but up to now no charges have been preferred,” Mwonzora told the Daily News.
“We gathered through rumours that he was arrested in connection with plots to overthrow the government.”
Mwonzora also confirmed that Sikhala was at the Harare Central Police Station homicide section, at the time of going to Press last night.
“He has been at the Law and Order section at Harare Central (Police Station), but he has been moved to the homicide section and this is a strange relocation. It doesn’t really make sense to us. We are yet to engage with the police,” Mwonzora added.
The Sunday Mail reported at the weekend that Sikhala had met Mujuru’s emissaries at an undisclosed location in Harare, where they allegedly discussed the formation of a coalition to topple Mugabe, while also planning to launch a Constitutional Court application targeted at Mugabe’s wife Grace.
Part of the alleged conversation supposedly went like, “We take chiConstitutional Court (challenge) chekuti: ‘Zvaakuratidza President is failing to run Executive yake yaanayo. Honayi zvakataura Grace apa (our approach to the Constitutional Court will be based on the fact that the president is failing to run his administration, particularly if one looks at what his wife Grace has said).
“It shows this and its implications inoreva zvakati, zvakati because for Grace to call (for) the removal of a VP who is constitutionally-appointed, it shows kuti Mugabe is no longer running, so automatically it disqualifies him to make any decision because the decisions are no longer made by him but by the wife and Zimbabwe cannot continue to be a State with a wife of the President making decisions”.
According to the newspaper, the meeting parties went on to discuss how Mujuru and MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai could allegedly work together, adding that whatever move would be made, this would also involve former Finance minister Simba Makoni.
Both Sikhala and the MDC have flatly pooh-poohed The Sunday Mail’s reports.
Mwonzora said yesterday that the MDC was shocked that police had jumped to pick up Sikhala and yet all the Zanu PF officials who had been implicated in the matter were yet to be questioned.
“The strange part is that people in Zanu PF who have been said to have planned to oust Mugabe have not yet been arrested,” he said.
“They are going to the MDC because they want to involve the MDC in their ugly fights. We have nothing to do with their ugly fights based on succession. This is a typical case of pursuing the soft target.”
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