Aware of 'imminent risks and dangers', Tsenengamu surrenders to police

Aware of ‘imminent risks and dangers’, Tsenengamu surrenders to police

Decision to hand himself in comes with 'possibilities of unpleasant outcomes to my health, safety and life'

Prepared ... Godfrey Tsenengamu (in woolen hat) seen at Harare Central Police Station with colleagues Tsenengamu surrounded by colleagues Sybeth Musengezi (left), Mike Mpofu and Talent Muhovo (far right)

HARARE – Former Zanu PF youth leader Godfrey Tsenengamu walked into a police station on Friday and was arrested, police said for inciting Zimbabweans to commit public violence.

Tsenengamu was named in a public statement as one of 14 people wanted for an “interview” by the ZRP back in July.

Before attending the police station, Tsenengamu issued a statement stating that he was “seek to physically make enquiries with the ZRP in a bid to understand and seek closure to what has been happening to me, my family, relatives and friends for the past three months.”

Tsenengamu previously said armed men were following his family members and harassing them while demanding to know his whereabouts.

Authorities identified Tsenengamu as one of the leaders of anti-government protests that were planned for July 31, which President Emmerson Mnangagwa said were an “insurrection.”

Tsenengamu, the former political commissar of the Zanu PF Youth League, was expelled from the party in June after he became a strident critic of the party’s allegedly corrupt donors – Kudakwashe Tagwirei and Billy Rautenbach.

In a statement on Friday, police said: “The ZRP confirms that Godfrey Tsenengamu is in police custody and will appear in court on October 10, 2020, in relation to incitement to commit public violence charges.”

Tsenengamu said he was “fully aware of the imminent risks and dangers that come with this decision and also the possibilities of unpleasant outcomes to my health, safety and life in the short and long term.”

But defiantly, he added: “I trust and believe in God the Almighty as the final and ultimate authority above all, for he has a plan and reason for everything that comes our way. Let his will be done.”

Dozens of rights activists and opposition officials were arrested or abducted and tortured in July and August, accused of planning or participating in protests aimed at toppling Mnangagwa’s regime.

The opposition accuses Mnangagwa of using the cover of Covid-19 regulations to limit individual rights, including the rights to assembly and freedom of speech.