Police charged Mutare Senator Keresensia Chabuka (MDC-T) and the MDC-T’s district chairman, Gabriel Chiwara, with unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon over the weekend.

The two men were due before magistrates on Monday but Mutare’s chief prosecutor, Janerose Matsikidze, referred the docket back to investigators for further enquiries.

Senator Chabuka was one of the local political and business leaders who responded to an SOS by Chipfatsura Clinic in Marange, which is struggling to stay open due to financial difficulties.

The Senator donated four boxes containing syringes. A police charge sheet prepared for prosecutors said staff at the clinic had found two 9mm live rounds of ammunition.

On June 6, Chabuka and Chiwara were summoned by the police and subsequently charged with contravening Section 44 of the Firearms Act.

Their lawyers, Passmore Nyakureba and Blessing Nyamaropa, insist that the boxes were sealed – from when the equipment was bought to when it was donated to the clinic.

Prosecutor Matsikidze elected not to take the matter to trial yet, sending the docket back to the police for further investigation.

Chabuka is not the first MDC-T official in Mutare to be charged with illegal possession of dangerous weapons. On May 31 this year, Martin Muchiruka, the MDC councillor for ward 4 in Mutare North, was arrested on charges of firearms possession.

He was arrested by the Police Internal Security Intelligence unit and questioned for two days at Odzi Police Station. He was transferred to Mutare Central on June 2 where he was held for two more days before being released.