BULAWAYO, Aug. 30 (NewsDay Live) — Twenty-two members of the National Democratic Working Group (NDWG), including 17 women and five men, were arrested in Bulawayo’s Entumbane suburb on Saturday after police allegedly accused them of holding an unsanctioned political meeting.
The group was later released into the custody of their lawyers after spending most of the day at Bulawayo Central Police Station.
NDWG working group spokesperson Sinenkosi Moyo said the members had gathered at a private residence to pray for a sick colleague when five Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers arrived.
“NDWG members met at Emma Kandeni’s place. We have a sick member, so we women met to pray for that member,” Moyo said.
She said the officers told them they had received information that the group was holding a political meeting.
“So the five CID officers came and said they received a tip-off that we were having a political meeting,” Moyo said.
According to Moyo, the members explained that they were holding a prayer service, but the officers were not convinced.
“We told them, you know, we are having a service, and we’ll continue with our service, but they didn’t believe us,” she said.
Moyo said police later called officers from Entumbane Police Station, who arrived in three vehicles and took the group to the station.
“They came with three cars. They asked us to get into the cars, then we left and went to the police station,” she said.
At the police station, officers allegedly recorded the members’ details and took their identity documents before informing them that they were being transferred to the Law and Order section at Bulawayo Central Police Station.
Moyo said the group was detained for most of the day before police allegedly sought to charge them with an offence relating to a public gathering.
She said their lawyers challenged the proposed charge, arguing that the meeting was being held inside a private residence.
“When our lawyers came, then they tried to put a charge. They wanted to charge us with a public gathering, but it wasn’t a public gathering because we were inside the house,” Moyo said.
The members were eventually released into the custody of their lawyers.
The organisation identified some of those arrested as national organiser Adelaide Ndlovu, deputy secretary Lucy Mudzingwa, head of information Silenkosi Hazel Moyo, deputy secretary Chipo Hove and deputy president Evelyn Mangoro.
Among the five men arrested were James Mugari, chief southern facilitator Zenzo Nkomo and chief regional organiser Sternlord Ndlovu.
The arrests come amid heightened political tensions following the enactment of Constitutional Amendment Act No. 3, which extended the presidential term to 2030.
The NDWG described the incident as an infringement of its members’ rights to meet and pray. Police had not publicly commented on the arrests by the time of publication.
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