SIX members of the secessionist Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) who were serving jail terms at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare have been transferred to Harare Central Prison.
In June this year, Bulawayo magistrate Tavengwa Sangster sentenced nine MRP members to more than 30 months imprisonment for violence.
Two out of the nine MRP members, Welcome Moyo and Mongameli Xukuthwayo Mlotshwa, were slapped with 36-month jail terms each.
Seven others, Nkosinathi Ncube, Tinos Nkomo (73) Levison Ncube (62), Sibongile Banda (57), Busi Moyo (52), Ackim Ndebele and Maxwell Nkosi, whose ages were not given, were sentenced to 33 months in jail.
On August 28, this year the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) transferred Nkosinathi, Nkomo, Ncube, Ndebele, Welcome, Banda and Busi from Bulawayo to Chikurubi Maximum Prison in Harare.
Nkosi was transferred to Gwanda Prison.
However, the latest information is that on Tuesday, six of them were transferred from Chikurubi D Class cells to Harare Prison C class cells.
MRP leader Mqondisi Moyo confirmed the transfers yesterday.
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“I can confirm that our six members who were at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, Nkosinathi Ncube, Mongameli Mlotshwa, Welcome Moyo, Tinos Nkomo, Livison Ncube and Ackim Ndebele were transferred from Chikurubi Maximum Prison to Harare Prison on Tuesday. At Chikurubi, they were D class prisoners, a prison cell meant for hard core criminals. At Harare Prison, they have now been placed in a C class cell,” Moyo said.
“Two MRP prisoners are still at Chikurubi — Sibongile Banda and Busi Moyo. As we speak, our teams are in Harare, where they are taking food and medication to the MRP prisoners.”
In September, Moyo petitioned government over incarceration of the nine MRP activists and the transfer of eight of them to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
Moyo’s petition has not been responded to.
The petition, dated September 5, was directed to ZPCS Commissioner-General Moses Chikobvu and copied to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Bulawayo Metropolitan Affairs and Devolution minister Judith Ncube.
Mnangagwa has repeatedly warned Mthwakazi activists against fomenting division in the country or face dire consequences.
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