By Peter Olorunnisomo – A Zimbabwe opposition lawmaker was charged on Tuesday with subversion, his lawyer said, after a video surfaced where he purportedly said President Emmerson Mnangagwa would be overthrown before the next election in 2023.
The lawmaker and MDC Alliance vice chairman, Job Sikhala has appeared before a Bikita Magistrates Court facing subversion charges after he allegedly said his party was going to overthrow the Government.
Sikhala, who is also the Zengeza West National Assembly representative was remanded in custody till July 24 before he brought before Ms Marewanazvo Gofa, for initial remand, this (Wednesday) morning. Though his lawyer, Mr Alec Muchadehama, Sikhala had made an application to have him released from custody arguing that the police had detained him beyond the stipulated legal limit.
However, Ms Gofa threw out the application for lacking merit. This was after the state led by Messrs Takunda Chikwati,Elson Chavarika and Chiedza Muhwandavaka had opposed the application saying it was false that Sikhala had been over-detained. Sikhala will now approach the High Court for bail.
The President, Mr Mnangagwa, 76, has promised to break with the past ways of his authoritarian predecessor Robert Mugabe, who was removed after a 2017 army coup, but critics say he has continued to use tough security laws against opponents.
Several government opponents face trial on charges of subverting the government after street protests over a fuel price hike turned deadly in January, leading to the death of more than a dozen people in a throwback to the Mugabe era.
In a video circulating on social media from the weekend, Job Sikhala, deputy chairman of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and a member of parliament, appears to be seen and heard telling supporters at a rally: “We are going to take the fight to the doorsteps of Emmerson Mnangagwa, we are going to overthrow him before 2023, that is not a joke.”
Reuters reporters on the ground have however stated that they not could not verify the authenticity of the video.
Sikhala’s lawyer Obey Shava said the outspoken former student leader, who faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted, had been detained at a police station in central Harare and would appear in court on Wednesday.
Without explicitly confirming the video, Shava told Reuters that there was nothing in its contents to suggest a crime had been committed. “He is denying the charge in its totality,” he said.
“We have been pushing the police to go to court but surprisingly their house is not yet in order. We thought they knew what they were doing, but it seems they are not very confident about the case themselves.”
The MDC continues to reject Mnangagwa’s presidential victory last year. Amid widespread economic hardship, the opposition routinely says it will use constitutional means to remove the president, without giving more specifics.
Ever since the overthrow of his predecessor, Robert Mugabe in a unique coup of its own kind, President Mnangagwa has faced different types of opposition not principally because of the coup was successful but rather as a result of a multiple of factors which are political, economic, industrial, and health management issues.
There was need to stage an election soon after the take-over to legitimise his ascendancy. Even though this occurred, it threw a wave of opposition against his win which culminated in the elections results being challenged and occasioned riots and bloodshed although it was alleged that his opposition was responsible.
Even now, the wind of opposition appears to be more determined if not desperate whilet the strength of opposition in terms of number is not easily determined. But it appears sufficient to lead to such threats as that which threatens to incarcerate the Sikhala.
The economy has well has not been in very good shape despite policies and overtures even to Russia to ‘come to the rescue’. In his early days in office, he had made moves to get looters of public funds to return them to the state coffers. There was also the mining scandal which also resulted in further humiliation to Robert Mugabe as the Assembly considered asking him to come and give evidence.
Mugabe definitely still has his supporters and well-wishers and those who feel the sentiment that he betrayed ‘trust’ of the ‘triumvir’ still lurk in the corridors of political authority.
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