ZIMBABWE’S Deputy Youth Minister Thamsanqa Mahlangu was arrested on Tuesday over the theft of a mobile phone belonging to war veterans’ leader, Joseph Chinotimba.
Mhlanga shared a table with Chinotimba at a July 17 workshop convened by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara to craft a “shared national vision”.
Police say during a lunch break, Chinotimba stood up to get some food and left his phone on the table. On his return, the phone had vanished.
Mutambara’s pleas for the phone to be returned were not answered and Chinotimba made a report to the police.
With the help of a network provider, detectives tracked down the sim card to a Hwange woman.
Following her arrest, the woman implicated Mahlangu whom she claimed was her boyfriend.
She told police Mahlangu removed the sim card from the phone and dumped it in a bin at their shared hotel room at Harare’s Crown Plaza Monomotapa Hotel. She later picked it up from the bin and began using it – unaware it belonged to the notorious leader of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association.
National police spokesman Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said: “His arrest is in connection with the theft of a cell phone at a function that was held at the Harare International Conference Centre. Vice President [Joice] Mujuru officiated at the function.
“Two other people are facing charges relating to using the cell phone line without the consent of the owner and in breach of the Telecommunications Act. These are Geraldine Phiri, 21, and Patience Nyoni, 27, of Hwange.”
However, the MDC-T, in a statement, said Mahlangu’s arrest was part of a Zanu PF-led plot to victimise its legislators and party members.
The party said he had been detained “in unclear circumstances”.
“His arrest comes in the wake of renewed persecution of MDC MPs and ministers. At least seven MPs are facing trumped-up charges while the party’s secretary-general and Minister of Finance Tendai Biti on Monday received a letter with a bullet inside it (sic),” the MDC statement said.