A Zanu PF activist, who challenged President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s legitimacy as leader of the ruling party, says he has given up on the police finding the culprits who petrol-bombed his house in October 2022. Unknown suspects petrol-bombed Sybeth Musengezi’s house in Harare, destroying property worth several thousands of dollars.
At the time, he had filed another High Court application seeking an order to block Zanu PF from holding its congress.
He is one of the many government critics whose houses have been petrol-bombed by unknown suspects.
Recently, the Sapes Trust conference room was bombed hours before opposition politicians were scheduled to hold a press briefing at the venue.
The aborted press conference had been called by opposition politicians to respond to Zanu PF’s alleged bid to extend Mnangagwa’s term of office from 2029 to 2030. The house of another activist Gilbert Mbwende was also bombed on the same night.
Sapes Trust director Ibbo Mandaza told The Standard last week that there has been no update from the police on the status of investigations surrounding his office attack.
In an interview with The Standard, Musenegzi said he has also not received any joy from the police since 2022.
“I didn’t get any help or justice from the police,” he said.
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“They refused to investigate the list of suspects that I gave them after receiving information from reliable sources that the suspects are the ones involved in the bombing.
“However, the investigation officers said that they needed clearance first from Zanu PF HQ to enable them to investigate the suspects since the suspects hold respectable offices in the party and government” Musengezi said he was tossed from one office to the next until he gave up.
“I tried to follow up for almost a year with the anti-terrorism unit stationed at Harare Central Police Station, who were handling the case,” he said. “I was always referred to different police officers until I got tired and just left it hanging.”
Activist Obert Masaraure said it was concerning that police have failed to provide Zimbabweans with any meaningful update on the investigations into the house bombings.
“It is widely known that a basic forensic expert could quickly decipher the identity, year, and place of manufacture of the explosive device,” he said.
“Armed with this information, the state could easily identify the official organizations or departments authorised to import such devices. “The silence from the state on this matter completely erodes public confidence in its constitutional role as the ultimate protector of its citizens.
“Unarmed, tax-paying citizens who fund the state for security find themselves exposed and vulnerable when the state deliberately fails to act.”
No comment could be obtained from the police.
