Gomba Arrested By Military Intelligence Officers- MDC Alliance
The Nelson Chamisa led MDC Alliance has condemned the arrest of Harare Mayor Herbert Gomba.
The party confirmed Gomba’s arrest but condemned what it termed ‘the unconstitutional nature’ of his arrest.
In a statement released by party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere, MDC Alliance said it is yet to be briefed by Gomba’s lawyers of the charges that Harare’s mayor faces.
The party states that Gomba was arrested at night in the presence of his family and was not informed of the reason of his arrest or afforded any of his constitutional safeguards as required by the law.
Savanna News publishes the full statement by MDC Alliance below:
We have leamt of the arrest of Harare Mayor, Councillor Herbert Gomba. We are yet to be briefed by his lawyers on the reason for his arrest and the bill nature of the charges that he faces. Once these are available, we will issue a detailed statement.
We condemn the unconstitutional nature of Mayor Herbert Gomba’s arrest as he was seized by military intelligence officers in the middle of the night in the presence of his if and children. He was not informed of the reason of his arrest or afforded any of his constitutional safeguards as required by the law. This nocturnal arrest by security agents cannot go unchallenged.
More information will be availed in due course.
There are reports that Gomba was arrested on Monday on allegations of criminal abuse of office connected with the sale of stands.
Contrary to claims by the MDC Alliance, the reports state that Gomba was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and spent the night in the police cells.
The Harare Mayor is expected to appear in court today.
His deputy, councillor Enock Mupamawonde is the acting mayor.
Gomba was allegedly involved in the illegal creation and sale of stands, with irregularities in the approval of plans and production of fraudulent layout plans prejudicing the Harare city council of thousands of dollars.
His subordinates in council who include Edgar Dzehonye, a senior officer in the housing department, have already appeared in court, to answer to charges of criminal abuse of office.