HARARE – Harare City Council Mayor, Jacob Mafume was on Wednesday arrested and is facing charges of criminal abuse of office.
The charges are linked to allegations of illegal land sales.
However, his party the MDC-Alliance say his arrest is another case where the law is being used to persecute MDC-Alliance members.
“In yet another case of persecution and weaponization of the law against MDC Alliance members, Harare Mayor @JMafume has been arrested by @PoliceZimbabwe. The charges against him are unclear,” said the party.
Mafume recently won the race to become the City’s mayor, replacing Hebert Gomba who was recalled by the Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T.
He narrowly won the race, defeating a candidate from the Khupe’s MDC-T who was believed to have been backed by Zanu-Pf.
MDC-Alliance vice president, Tendai Biti described the arrest as an assault on the democratic space.
“The arrest of His Worship Jacob Mafume is a continued assault on democratic space &the democratic movement,” wrote Biti on his Twitter account…”
Mafume is set to appear in court on Thursday where his lawyers will seek his bail release.