MDC-T MP for Mpopoma-Pelandaba, Bekithemba Nyathi, was in the eye of a storm on Friday after flyers denouncing him for allegedly turning the constituency office into a brothel were strewn all over the city centre. Senior Reporter
The flyers that bore the logo of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) accused the youthful legislator of abusing women at the office and turning it into a brothel.
Woza has since distanced itself from the flyers.
The flyers written in both Ndebele and English read: “Bekithemba Nyathi stop sexually abusing women in our constituency office. Stop using our constituency office as a brothel.
“Stop pimping out our daughters and sisters to your friends. As our MP, your job is to protect us and to work for the constituency.
“We don’t want (incarcerated Independent End Time RGM church leader Martin) Gumbura in Bulawayo.”
Gumbura was jailed for 40 years last month for raping female members of his church.
Woza leaders Jenny Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were not reachable for comment yesterday, but an official who refused to be named distanced the pressure group from the flyers.
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“It’s not our fliers Some mischievous people used our logo. We are seized with the matter to try and identify the source of the flyers,” the official said.
“As an organisation we did not send out such a message, hence we distance ourselves from the flyers and the message contained there.”
But Williams took to Twitter disassociating Woza from the flyers, she tweeted: “For the third time Woza’s logo has stolen and used to attack MDC-T MP. Woza disassociates itself from the flyers and has instructed lawyers to demand a police investigation into the theft.”
Nyathi has in the past come underfire from Mpopoma residents who last month accused him of being “uncouth”.
Nyathi, who is an MDC-T Bulawayo provincial youth leader, is also accused of disrespect, and peddling divisions with the party structures there.
The MP was not reachable for comment yesterday as he was said to be attending meetings.
However, in the past he has dismissed allegations that he is using the constituency office as a brothel as the work of his detractors.
“That Parliament house is run by an advisory board of 10 elders and they are the ones who take care of it,” he said was quoted saying last month. The people levelling these allegations have some hidden agendas against me.”
He said he had actually stopped the abuse of the office, which he said used to happen before he became MP.
The distribution of the flyers coincided with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s arrival in Bulawayo for a fighting mission.
