Mutasa North MDC activist Edward Magumba has today been brought before a Mutare Magistrate for baseless allegations of destructing Zanu pf posters in 2008 and was discharged after the witnesses failed to attend the court proceedings.

He will be called by way of summons should the state find the witness. Magumba is pleading not guilty saying the charge is just politically motivated and Zanu pf activists in his area are just trying to eliminate influential MDC activists as the nation geras for the next general election.

The state alleges that Magumba on 22 March 2008 at Nyabereka Spar supermarket, in Hauna Honde Valley, removed and tore a Zanu pf Poster displayed on the walls of the supermarket. He is being charged with c/s 152(1) of the Electoral Act Chapter 2:13 "Destruction of Political Posters."

David Tandiri of Tandiri Law Chambers represented him.

It is mind boggling why if at all there was a charge against Magumba or that if he had by some chance committed an offense, why was he not arrested then. No arrests were made at the time when the crime is alleged to have been committed. Magumba has been residing at his homestead since then and was amazed why the summon came at such a time.

It is a clear indication that Zanu PF is desperately trying by all means to dishearten MDC supporters and stop them from supporting MDC. In Shona they say, "kutsvaka kweashaya kutsvaka uta mugate." Translated loosely, it means: the hopeless desperation of one who looks for a bow in a gourd. That is how desperate our rulers are. They are now looking for fuel in parliament.

Zanu pf preoccupation with erecting barriers and controls in all facets of life is symptomatic of a political party that is clutching at straws to salvage a plot that is almost irretrievably lost.

The Zanu pf story is a sad one. Here is a party whose leader has laid claim to fame and to having many supporters across the face of Zimbabwe and beyond (except in European capitals and the United States) but is busy harassing people and forcing them to support Zanu PF.

MDC strongly condemns all forms of violence and unfair justice delivery systems and calls upon law enforcers to be professional in their execution of duties and stop being partisan.