The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party stated late Monday that a Zimbabwe opposition worker was discovered dead after being abducted on Saturday during a political campaign just outside Harare. This is the second kidnapping of an opposition party member in recent weeks.

Tapfumaneyi Masaya was reportedly bundled into a car by unknown individuals while canvassing for the candidate of the major opposition party CCC ahead of by-elections on December 9, according to the party.

According to CCC spokeswoman Promise Mkwananzi, Masaya was mistreated and discarded on the outskirts of Harare on Tuesday.

Masaya’s body was eventually transferred to a morgue at Parirenyatwa Hospital, approximately 5 kilometers outside central Harare, where it was recognized by CCC members who had been looking for him, according to Mkwananzi.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the incidents.

Masaya’s kidnapping and murder occurred only two weeks after CCC legislator Takudzwa Ngadziore was kidnapped, tortured, and abandoned around 50 kilometers north of Harare by armed men. He escaped the onslaught.

On Monday, police confirmed an inquiry had been opened after a corpse was located near where the CCC reported Masaya was discovered, but the victim’s identification had yet to be determined.

On Tuesday, police spokesperson Paul Nyathi told Reuters that there were no new developments.

“We urge the police to do their work and ensure that all these abductors are promptly and effectively brought to justice,” Mkwananzi said in a statement.

Since President Emmerson Mnangagwa won a second term in August, Zimbabwe’s opposition groups have been pressing for a new election. CCC leader Nelson Chamisa called the vote a “gigantic fraud,” while the ruling ZANU-PF party denied any wrongdoing (Reuters).

Source:(CNN,2023)

PHOTO: BBC