Zimbabwe’s seven month old coalition faces collapse as serious fissures stalked by the re-arrest of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s top aide, Roy Bennett.
Reacting to the developments, Tsvangirai cancelled a Council of Ministers meeting in protest over president Robert Mugabe’s refusal to meet him to resolve the matter.
Tsvangirai made several attempts to meet Mugabe, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, attempts which were all turned down.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai’s spokesperson James Maridadi confirmed that a Council of Ministers meeting, which Tsvangirai chairs and sits on Thursdays had been suspended because “the Prime Minister (Tsvangirai) will be meeting the top MDC leadership to consider Senator Roy Bennett’s issue”.
“Council of ministers has been cancelled. The Prime Minister has suspended his coming to the office until the issue of Senator Bennett is resolved. He wants that matter resolved immediately,” said Maridadi.
He said Tsvangirai’s attempts to meet Mugabe were frustrated last night.
The MDC Treasurer-General and deputy agriculture minister designate Bennett was sent to prison for the second time, this year on the same charges after the state successfully applied to indict him in the High Court.
The MDC party said Bennett’s indictment and subsequent detention as “yet another serious attack on the credibility of the inclusive government”.
“The MDC views this as an act of machination by Zanu PF and its sulking cabal planted in various state institutions aimed at persecuting not prosecution. As a party, we know that Bennett is innocent. The banditry charges are trumped-up and they poison the letter and spirit of the inclusive government and the Global Political Agreement,” the MDC said in a statement.
“This latest action is deliberately provocative, unnecessary and motivated by hatred of a personality. The MDC takes this matter as a serious attack on the integrity and honesty of the party; it is not acceptable and will not be taken lightly,” party said.
