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Herald Reporter

Abduction claims by three MDC-Alliance female activists, including former Harare West MP, Joanna Mamombe, continue to be exposed with more evidence showing the movements of the trio during the period they claim to have been in captivity.

The three, including two other MDC-A youth members Netsai Marowa and Cecilia Chimbiri disappeared together with Mamombe under unclear circumstances after an illegal flash demo in Warren Park on May 13, 2020.

They were later “found” two days later at Muchapondwa Business Centre in Musana communal areas, Bindura South.

Official statements from the trio have been disproved by evidence from CCTV footage and cellphone usage during the time they alleged to have been abducted.

They claimed to have been arrested along Samora Machel Avenue at a police checkpoint on their way into the CBD after buying groceries at Marimba Shopping Centre and denied being present at the illegal demo.

However, a documentary showing evidence from CCTV footage, cellphone tracking and pictures, has disproved their assertions as it shows that they were at the demonstration in Warren Park and not at Marimba as they claimed.

Further examination of the evidence established that after the illegal demonstration in Warren Park they drove a silver Mercedes Benz Reg. No. AFE 9222, along Westwood Road, which separates the suburbs of Westwood and Kambuzuma and turned into Kambuzuma Road, towards the Workington Industrial Area.

They eventually got into Coventry Road before turning into Rotten Row Avenue. The car was being driven by Ms Mamombe.

The evidence also shows that in the afternoon of the day of the alleged abduction, they drove to Fidelity Life Towers where the offices of the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights’ owned Counselling Services Unit, are housed.

The two organisations are rabid critics of Government.

From Fidelity Life Towers, their movements were detected in the Kopje area where Ms Chimbiri detected her uncle and called him on her mobile phone and immediately made a U-turn and met the uncle at the corner of Rotten Row Avenue and Coventry Road.

The uncle confirmed to investigators that he met the three female activists just before 2pm on the day of the alleged abduction.

Afterwards the three were noticed in the vicinity of Advocates Chambers housed at Old Mutual Building along Third Street, where MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s private offices are incidentally located.

From Advocates Chambers, they are tracked to Baines Avenue and Sixth Street and then moments later, they are tracked to Golden Stairs Road in the Ashbrittle area before making a U-turn towards Belgravia.

Just before 3pm, Ms Mamombe tells her lawyer, Jeremiah Bhamu via Whatsapp that she had been arrested.

However, his efforts to locate her or ascertain how many people had been arrested were not responded to. Around 5.34pm of that day, Mr Bhamu then notified Ms Mamombe of his intention to make a missing person report.

Mr Bhamu shared the messages with investigators.

While Mamombe had told her lawyer that she had been arrested around 3pm, CCTV at Belgravia Shopping Centre shows the team arriving at around 4.45pm and parked at a food court with the registration of the vehicle clearly noticeable.

Ms Chimbiri is still wearing the same clothes she had been pictured with earlier in the day.

The three also display suspicious behaviour when they ordered their food from their car with a manager at the Food Court confirming they had told him “pakaipa” (meaning something wrong) when he asked why they didn’t want to get into the shop.

They immediately left after their order had been delivered with the car only discovered at Harare Central Police Station on May 16.

However, a manager at a nearby shop said the vehicle was not at the parking lot on May 14 and 15.

Detectives discovered the trio’s cellphones in the car while an empty packet of a new cellphone was also found in the vehicle, raising suspicion that the new gadget could have been the one they were using for communicating.