Deputy Minister Says Dzamara Not Only 'Abducted' Zimbabwean
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told Studio 7 today that Dzamara is not the only activist to have vanished.
WASHINGTON DC — Zimbabwean lawyer, Charles Kwaramba, representing disappeared Occupy Africa Unity Square leader, Itai Dzamara, has urged President Robert Mugabe to publicly talk about the abducted activist to give the case a high profile and urgency it deserves. The remarks follow pronouncements by President Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, that Mr. Mugabe will not be commenting on the matter. Dzamara was abducted on March 9 this year by five unidentified armed men in Harare’s Glen View suburb as he was getting a haircut at a local barbershop. The activist spearheaded the pro-democracy movement that demanded the resignation of Mr. Mugabe for allegedly failing to deliver. But the investigations seem to have stalled with the head of the police’s law and order unit in the criminal investigations department, Crispen Makedenge, refusing to comment referring Studio 7 to the police general headqurters. Makedenge even claimed he was not in charge of the investigation. The story took yet another bizarre turn when deputy home affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told Studio 7 today that Dzamara is not the only activist to have vanished, giving an example of veteran nationalist, Edison Sithole, who disappeared before independence in 1975 and was never found. Opposition groups, non-governmental organizations and western governments have all been piling pressure on the government to locate Dzamara. The European Union said it was for the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure that those responsible for the abduction of Dzamara were brought to justice, adding that the 28-member bloc would continue to closely watch the progress as human rights remained a pillar of all their bilateral relations. High Court judge, David Mangota, ordered the home affairs minister, commissioner general of police, and head of the Central Intelligence Organization to do all they can to determine Dzamara’s whereabouts. His lawyer said the investigations have been frustratingly slow.