Dumisani Muleya
12 November 2009
ZIMBABWEAN Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his party's ministers attended cabinet meetings yesterday, officially ending their boycott ahead of the divisive trial of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) treasurer Roy Bennett, which resumes today.
Tsvangirai's return to the government comes after last week's regional summit in Maputo called to resolve a political crisis triggered by the re-arrest of Bennett, who is facing charges of terrorism and banditry.
Mugabe and his ministers continued to hold cabinet meetings without Tsvangirai's MDC . Tsvangirai pulled out of the inclusive government last month, citing unresolved issues in the deal that led to the formation of the coalition .
"The prime minister and all the ministers from his party attended cabinet," James Maridadi, Tsvangirai's spokesman, said yesterday.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai could not meet on Monday as expected because the president was attending the China-Africa summit in Egypt. Cabinet meetings were also postponed from Tuesday to yesterday.
While Tsvangirai and his ministers have ended their "disengagement" there remains lingering instability made worse by the Bennett trial.
Bennett is the deputy minister of agriculture-designate. Mugabe has refused to allow him to take office until he is cleared by the courts.
Bennett was arrested in February, hours before he was due to be sworn in , on charges of possession of weapons to commit acts of banditry, insurgency and terrorism. He faces jail or even the death penalty.
Bennett was in court on Monday but the trial stalled following applications by the prosecution and defence on the role of Peter Hitschmann.
Attorney-general Johannes Tomana sought to have the defence barred from arguing Hitschmann was tortured into making confessions implicating Bennett. The defence wanted him excluded from testifying because his confessions were extracted through torture.
Judge Chinembri Bhunu yesterday dismissed both applications.
Mugabe angered the MDC by unilaterally naming Tomana the state's chief prosecutor.
Bennett is represented by human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa.
The outcome of the trial has strong implications for the power- sharing government.
Mtetwa is expected to argue today the evidence against Bennett is based solely on a "confession" that mentioned him in an alleged plot to assassinate Mugabe in 2006.
Mugabe has accused many of his rivals of intrigues to kill him.
Reports said Hitschmann, who was released in July after serving 2½ years in jail for what the state called illegal weapons, said he did not want to testify against Bennett.
Tsvangirai says Bennett is facing "persecution by prosecution".
Bennett is fighting a court battle for the return of his lucrative Chimanimani coffee farm. Reports last month said self-described war veteran Solomon Mashingaidze was living on the property, selling beer while other "veterans" pan for gold. All the coffee bushes on the farm have been destroyed.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
