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Job Sikhala

Crime Reporter
MDC-T member Mr Job Sikhala, who was said to have met with representatives of the faction led by Vice President Joice Mujuru to discuss modalities of joining forces ahead of elections in 2018, was yesterday picked up by the police for questioning in Beitbridge.

This comes after a meeting held in Harare last Friday between members of the Mujuru camp that has been working to unconstitutionally unseat President Mugabe and Mr Sikhala to discuss preparations of a likely merger between MDC-T and the Mujuru faction.

Mr Sikhala’s lawyer Mr Douglas Mwonzora, who is also the MDC-T secretary-general, said his client had not been charged by yesterday evening and was still in custody at Harare Central Police Station.

“He has been referred to the homicide section and we are not sure about the charge,” he said.

“They are still deciding what to charge him with.”

Police sources yesterday said Mr Sikhala was questioned by detectives from the CID Law and Order Section.

Although the details were still sketchy, Mr Sikhala is believed to have been picked up following the meeting he held with the Mujuru camp.

MDC-T national spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu posted on his Facebook account yesterday saying Mr Sikhala had been escorted by police from Beitbridge to Harare.

“Officers from CID Law and Order department say that they will escort Job Sikhala from Beitbridge to Harare today (yesterday),” he said.

“Legal representation for Sikhala has been arranged, although we are not yet clear what exact charges the police intend to prefer against him.”

Mr Sikhala also posted on his Facebook account alleging that he had 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,” he said. “Let’s see whether their charges will carry the order of the day in the court of law.”

The parties recently proposed making VP Mujuru president and Mr Tsvangirai the deputy or alternatively prime minister, just like the arrangement in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and premier Dmitry Medvedev.

The parties also said Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader Simba Makoni should be part of the arrangement as he was close to both VP Mujuru and Mr Tsvangirai.

The First Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe, recently revealed that the launch of both Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn and the MDC was mooted in VP Mujuru’s house.

At the meeting, Mr Sikhala revealed that he planned to launch a frivolous Constitutional application quoting the First Lady’s statements calling for the resignation of VP Mujuru as evidence that President Mugabe was no longer running the country as decisions were being made by his wife.

Mr Sikhala said he wanted the prevailing political situation in Zanu-PF to remain as the party’s congress drew nearer.

The source said Mr Sikhala discussed the role of Zanu-PF political commissar Cde Webster Shamu, whom he said allegedly impregnated a 15-year-old girl who is studying at a university in the UK, saying the case could see him arrested.

He was said to have enquired on which camps were officers like Air Marshall Perrance Shiri, prisons Commissioner-General Paradzai Zimondi, police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri and army commander Lieutenant General Phillip Valerio Sibanda.