3 more abducted as police say Mukoko 'kidnapped'

3 more abducted as police say Mukoko 'kidnapped'

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Posted to the web: 09/12/2008 13:20:15
ZIMBABWEAN police on Tuesday moved to deny they had been involved in the abduction of a former TV anchor, a day after two of her colleagues were also abducted in Harare.

Police said they were treating Jestina Mukoko’s abduction from her Norton home early Wednesday, last week, as a “kidnapping”.

On Monday, two of Mukoko’s colleagues at the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), where she worked as a director, were seized from their offices in Harare by six men.

Pascal Gonzo and Brodrick Takawira were bundled into two waiting “unmarked sedans, one of which was red in colour”, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said in a statement.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai said his former personal assistant, Gandhi Mudzingwa, had been kidnapped by nine gunmen driving in six vehicles late on Monday in downtown Harare.

“Mudzingwa's abduction brings to 18 the total number of MDC activists and civil rights activists abducted in the past one and a half months. The whereabouts of 15 MDC activists from Banket… remain unknown,” the MDC said in a statement.

It added: “The MDC believes there is a systematic plot to decimate the party
structures, the leadership and civil rights groups involved in compiling dossiers of violence and human rights abuses.”

In a letter, responding to an appeal by the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations for Mukoko’s release, police Chief Superintendent Nzombe wrote: “Be advised that investigations into circumstances of the taking away of Jestina Mukoko from her home have been instituted under Zimbabwe Republic Police Norton, report received book number 0438167. The matter is being treated as kidnapping.”

The Chief Superintendent added: “It must be noted that Jestina Mukoko is not in any of our police cells. We will keep you informed of the progress and outcome of the investigations.”

The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) is a human rights organisation that “monitors and documents human rights violations”, according to a spokesman.
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