Chaos mars Motlanthe inquiry into Zimbabwe poll killings

from NDABENI MLOTSHWA in Bulawayo
BULAWAYO, (CAJ News) – THE inquiry led by former South African president,  Kgalema Motlanthe, into the killing of opposition supporters during polls in Zimbabwe has degenerated into chaos in the second city of Bulawayo.

At least four men were arrested this past weekend for demanding that President Emmerson Mnangagwa be held accountable for the killing of an estimated 20 000 civilians during the atrocities south of the country in the 1980s.

The chief suspect in the crackdown of perceived opponents of Mnangagwa has been named as Wisdom Mkwananzi.

He has been charged with “undermining authority of or insulting” Mnangagwa during the public hearing conducted at a local hotel by the Motlanthe-led Commission of Inquiry into the August 1 killing of civilians by the army.

Some people in the region are enraged at the inquiry into the
post-elections deaths, yet a similar probe has not been opened into the decades-old atrocities.

Mkwananzi allegedly accused Mnangagwa of masterminded the murder of his parents during the mass killings.

Mnangagwa was National Security Minister during the violations in
Matabelaland and Midlands regions.

Police allege Mkwananzi (32) pointed at Mnangagwa’s portrait, pasted onto the wall during his testimony before the Commission of Inquiry.

“I am an orphan because of this man. He killed my parents,” he is alleged to have said.

Police charged the suspect had “engendered a feeling of hostility towards or caused hatred or ridicule” of Mnangagwa.

He is to appear in court this week facing additional charges of supplying a false name to the Commission of Inquiry after he allegedly gave Siphatha Mandla as his name.

Meanwhile, three other men are to appear in court in November for
allegedly disrupting the commission’s inquiry in Bulawayo.

Welcome Moyo, Venat Ncube and Marshal Sibanda were arrested for “disorderly and riotous” conduct intending to disrupt the inquiry
proceedings.

– CAJ News