Move to rubbish MDC-Alliance trio backfires spectacularly
Bruised and soiled MDC A MP Joana Mamombe
Staff Reporter
HARARE — A Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s attempt at discrediting three MDC activists who were abducted and tortured by suspected state security agents turned comical yesterday after eagle-eyed viewers noticed a glaring mistake — the car initially featured in the documentary is a 2005 BMW 3 Series, not a 2007 Mercedes Benz the trio was travelking in on the day of their abduction.
Later on in the documentary, they showed the back of the stationary Mercedes Benz, clearly showing the number plate, the young politicians were driving on that day.
MDC legislator Joanna Mamombe and activists Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marowa were arrested in May during a protest in Warren Park and taken to Harare Central police station. While there, they were abducted by suspected state security agents who tortured them for three days before they dumped them by a roadside near Bindura. They were hospitalised for injuries sustained from sexual abuse and torture they were subjected to during captivity.
They are now on bail facing charges of faking their abduction. As if to bolster the State case, ZBC, a government mouthpiece, ran an amateurishly-put together documentary on Wednesday, rubbishing allegations the trio had been abducted.
A Zanu PF apologist going by the name Tirimusango Wenje, posted the ZBC documentary on his Facebook page, touting it as a “must-see”.
However, an eagle-eyed viewer, Proudly_Black, tweeted: “Upon further scrutiny, the Mercedes Benz C200 (2007) that the ZBC has shown in a video claiming it was driven by the trio, is actually a BMW 3 Series (2005). Own goal!”
Chipped in a Harare lawyer: “Compare physical evidence and corroborated first hand witness accounts by the victims, versus the mysteriously delayed circumstantial evidence upon which the State case is built . . . much ado about nothing!”
Expelled Zanu PF legislator for Chivi South Killer Zivhu tweeted: “Watched ZBC documentary on the MDC-A trio, kkkkk! Ninety percent is just voice overs and arrows pointing at roads. Why can’t you use the same method to trace (Itai) Dzamara and the rest? Guys, concentrate on improving the economy. People are suffering!”
Self-exiled former information minister Jonathan Moyo claimed the botched documentary was produced by Mungate Mungate who he said was the leader of Harare Ferret, a wing of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation believed to be responsible for recent spates of abduction and torture of dissidents.
When contacted for comment, ZBC acting head of news Alson Mfiri, claimed he had not watched the documentary. “I have been away in my rural home, so I haven’t watched it. I cannot comment,” he said.
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