BEITBRIDGE-based Citizens Coalition For Change (CCC) politician Renatho Ndou says Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers, accompanied by other security agents, besieged his home falsely accusing him of participating in a protest during the just ended Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Summit.
Ndou, who contested for CCC in the Beitbridge East national assembly election last year, apparently had to wake up at 3am on Saturday to attend to "dozens" of state security officials surrounding his home
"They accused me of having supplied a vehicle that carried the tyres that were burnt near the Mashavire shopping complex as a demonstration during the SADC Summit.
“I had no part in that, I don't know anything about it, I cooperated with them and showed them all they were looking for including details of the movement of my car which fortunately had been parked well before the time they alleged," Ndou said in an interview.
More than 160 opposition activists and human rights defenders were arrested and denied bail in the lead-up to the summit as the government accused them of planning to demonstrate during the high-level meeting of Heads of States and Governments across the regional bloc.
Ndou said he had to take the Police where his truck was and asked them to interview the guard who showed them a log book proving that the vehicle had been parked at the time of the said protest, contradicting the allegations.
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"All the allegations and time frames failed to tally and the good thing is it's them who asked the guard. They were professional and apologized, embarrassed though," said Ndou.
Efforts to get comments from police in Gwanda Province were fruitless.