MDC senator charged for threatening to burn Zec offices




Lillian Timveous
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MIDLANDS Senator Lillian Timveous (MDC Alliance) is set to appear in court today facing charges of threatening to destroy Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (Zec) offices in Zvishavane ahead of the July 31, 2018 elections.

Timveous also faces charges of stopping a Zec Zvishavane district election officer, Regressa Dube, from distributing ballot papers to voters who had applied for postal voting on July 15, according to summons.

She also faces two charges of disrupting operations at Zec’s Zvishavane offices, even threatening to use violence, charges that MDC chairperson Thabitha Khumalo dismissed as ludicrous yesterday.

“… at the Zec (offices at) government complex in Zvishavane, Lillian Timveous, being a member of the MDC Alliance, unlawfully obstructed Regressa Dube, who is a Zvishavane district election officer, from issuing postal ballot papers to voters who had applied for postal voting, that is to say Lillian Timveous dispersed the postal ballot voters who were receiving their ballot envelopes containing postal ballot papers from Regressa Dube,” the summons read.

Zanu PF won the elections, but the opposition MDC has refused to recognise the ruling party’s victory, arguing that Zec manipulated the results.

“… Timveous, being a member of the MDC Alliance, unlawfully threatened to damage Zvishavane Zec offices where Regressa Dube, the Zvishavane district election officer, works from that is to say Lillian Timveous uttered that be guarded continuously or else she was going to break into Zvishavane Zec offices,” the second charge reads.

In an interview, the MDC chairperson said this was confirmation enough that the opposition party was under siege.

“It’s just political persecution of the party for daring to tell the truth that they (government) have failed. The charges do not make any sense at all. We are under siege,” Khumalo told NewsDay.

The MDC has complained over State-sponsored persecution of its members, charges government officials have on several occasions denied and, instead, accused the opposition party of wilfully violating the country’s laws.