Kitsepile Nyathi
3 November 2009
Nairobi — A Zimbabwean deputy minister from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party who was arrested for allegedly stealing a cell phone from an ally of President Robert Mugabe has been cleared of the charges.
Mr Thamsanqa Mahlangu who is also the youth chairperson for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was arrested together with his personal assistant and two women in July in what his party said was part of a wider campaign against its law makers.His acquittal also coincided with the release of another MP who was facing charges of abusing government subsidised inputs.
Delivering judgment in Mr Mahlangu's case, the magistrate said: The State failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt ... The court finds them not guilty hence the accused persons are entitled to an acquittal."
On October 16, the MDC partially withdrew from the unity government citing the politically motivated prosecution of its MPs and senior officials.
The party said the indictment of its treasurer general Mr Roy Bennett on terrorism and banditry charges was the final straw.
More than a dozen MDC MPs arrested since the formation of the unity government in February on various charges have been acquitted by the courts.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's neighbours have stepped up pressure on the country's estranged leaders to bury their differences with visiting DRC President Joseph Kabila holding separate crucial meetings with the three principals in the troubled coalition government.Mr Kabila, who is chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which brokered the power sharing agreement between President Robert Mugabe and his former rivals, says the unity government is Zimbabwe's only option.
The meetings with Mr Mugabe, Mr Tsvangirai and his Deputy Professor Arthur Mutambara came days before a SADC summit on Zimbabwe scheduled for Thursday.
Swaziland's King Mswati, Mozambican President Armando Guebuza and Zambian President Rupiah Banda, who make up the regional body's troika on security and politics, will meet in Mozambique to try and resolve the impasse caused by Mr Tsvangirai's partial pull out.
Although Mr Mugabe has been dismissive of the SADC initiative, his counterparts see it as the only option to save the unity government that has lurched from one crisis to another since its formation.
After meeting Mr Kabila, the Zimbabwean leader said: "He will, however know that we are grown-ups and an intelligent people who know that we went into the agreement knowing that there will be handicaps to be met and we need to sit down and discuss the problems."
But Mr Tsvangirai said he had told the DRC leader that SADC had an obligation to save Zimbabwe from sliding back to the economic and political crisis.
"The discussion was very productive... I want to say he gave me assurances that SADC is committed to see this country move forward to ensure that the train is back on rail," Mr Tsvangirai said after meeting Mr Kabila for an hour.
The Prime Minister said he was hopeful, the Thursday meeting will find a solution to Zimbabwe's problems.
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