“MNANGAGWA AND CHIVAYO SLUR”: Chiredzi Vendor Acquitted After Remarks
CHIREDZI — A 32-year-old Chiredzi vendor who allegedly made inciting remarks against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the late tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivhayo has been cleared of incitement charges.
Tafadzwa Nelton Matanhuse was acquitted by Chiredzi Magistrate Lynne Chinzou on Thursday morning after the court ruled that the State had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the charge of incitement to commit public violence, The Masvingo Mirror reports.
Matanhuse was arrested after a video circulated in which he allegedly said on camera that Mnangagwa and Chivhayo don’t care about poor people.
The remarks were made in the aftermath of the destruction of vendors’ stalls in Chiredzi, an operation that left hundreds of breadwinners without a source of income to fend for their families.
He was represented by human rights lawyer Martin Mureri.
The acquittal comes amid growing tension between local authorities and informal traders across the country, with vendors accusing councils of heavy-handed demolitions without providing alternative trading spaces.