TWO Zanu PF activists who have been charged with invading the Bulawayo City Council-owned Mazwi Game and Nature Reserve, were last week rearrested and spent the weekend in detention for invading three other farms in Norwood on the outskirts of Bulawayo.
RICHARD MUPONDE SENIOR COURT REPORTER
Tariro Magovanyika (34) and Mark Muunganirwa (42) were arrested on Thursday at their homes on fresh charges of criminal trespass and brought to court last Friday where their lawyer Solomon Mguni applied for bail.
However, they were remanded in custody to yesterday after the prosecution indicated that it wanted more time to respond to the bail application.
The matter was in court yesterday, but the application was heard late as prosecutors were taking instructions from their bosses in Harare.
However, unlike in their previous court appearance that was characterised by high drama, yesterday’s bail application went almost virtually unnoticed.
Last month, over 100 Zanu PF supporters clad in party regalia besieged the court building in solidarity with Magovanyika and Muunganirwa.
Court orderlies intervened and barred the Zanu PF members from entering the court building, but the parking space was filled by party supporters bussed to court in lorries and commuter omnibuses.
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In their bail application at the Western Commonage heard by magistrate Themba Chimiso yesterday, the pair denied ever invading Norwood farms accusing some criminal elements of using their names to invade the land.
“We never set foot at Norwood plots. It’s the work of overzealous people who are now using our names to occupy land. We believe there is a motive behind those occupying land to tarnish our names,” they said through their lawyer.
Chimiso granted them bail of $50 each and ordered them not to interfere with witnesses and the case was remanded to September 23 for trial. Their trial for invading Mazwi will start on September 29.
Charges against the pair are that between August 16 and September 4, Magovanyika and Muunganirwa led a group of people to invade plots in Norwood.
They allegedly started allocating stands and clearing the land without the plot owners’ consent and a police report was made, leading to their arrest.
