Police launch probe into Mangoma assault

Harare Bureau
Police have launched investigations into the case in which MDC-T deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma was assaulted in Harare at the weekend by youths reportedly aligned to party leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mangoma reported the case at Avondale Police Station on Tuesday and the docket was yesterday transferred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station.

The youths attacked Mangoma and youth leader Promise Mkwananzi outside the MDC-T headquarters on Saturday.
Party secretary-general Tendai Biti reportedly escaped the mob by throwing himself into Tsvangirai’s car, while another youth leader, Solomon Madzore, had to make a hasty retreat into the party headquarters.

Sources close to the investigations yesterday confirmed they had started and said Mangoma indicated in his report that the party youths were the ones who assaulted him.

“In his report, he (Mangoma) indicated that he was assaulted by their party youths and we are now investigating the case,” said a police source.
There are no senior party officials implicated in the formal report and no arrests have been made so far.

Tsvangirai claimed on Sunday that there was a “coup” plot against him and that some people wanted to “remove him violently” from his post, just a day after his loyalists assaulted the senior party officials who have called for leadership renewal.

Tsvangirai made the remarks to a crowd that showed up for a rally in Glen Norah, Harare, that was supposed to have been a major show of public support for the embattled MDC-T leader, but attended by a handful of people.

His statement was in apparent reference to Biti and Mangoma, who did not attend the rally.
Other senior officials and the youth executive also snubbed the rally.

Mangoma, as has been done by several other MDC-T officials, called on Tsvangirai to step down after leading the party to electoral losses against Zanu-PF and President Mugabe in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2013.

Tsvangirai claimed Saturday’s violence was orchestrated by State-sponsored elements.
In the past, other senior officials have been attacked by party supporters with Tsvangirai pointedly not condoning any disciplinary action in all the cases.