By Costa Nkomo

POLICE in Harare Wednesday arrested and charged MDC youth assembly secretary general Gift Siziba for alleged incitement to commit public violence.

Charges against Siziba, better known as Ostallos, reportedly arose over remarks he made at a rally in Glen Norah at the weekend.

It is alleged Siziba told party supporters that he had a message for President Emmerson Mnangagwa before saying: “I want to leave this message to Mnangagwa and Zanu PF, that Mnangagwa, tomorrow before sunset we are coming for you.”

Siziba, handed himself over to police in the company of his lawyers, Moses Nkomo and  Agency Gumbo, who are both members of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

He is expected to appear in court Thursday.

Siziba is the second MDC official inside 24 hours to be locked up over anti-Mnangagwa threats.

Authorities on Tuesday charged MDC deputy national chairman Job Sikhala with subversion over utterances he made at a campaign rally over the weekend.

While initially the MDC distanced itself from Sikhala’s remarks that the party was planning to overthrow Mnangagwa before the 2023 elections, under-fire deputy national spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said the latest arrests had exposed Mnangagwa.

“Hon. Sikhala and Siziba’s detention expose the callous nature of Mnangagwa’s administration, which has been trying to hoodwink Zimbabweans and the international community that they are different from the oppressive regime of former President Robert Mugabe.

“The detention of the two MDC senior officials, the recent clamp-down on civil society activists and MPs have exposed this regime for what it really is,” Tamborinyoka said.

“The brutal murder of innocent Zimbabweans on August 1, 2018 and in January 2019 have shown that Mnangagwa has never been a reformist, contrary to his posturing to the world and to the diplomatic community. In short, this is not in any way a Second Republic but a brutal continuation of the First.”