KEY POINTS
- Mathibela is under surveillance and barred from leaving the country.
- Protests against corruption are set for Thursday.
- Critics of Mnangagwa face increasing risks of persecution.
The President’s Department has directed immigration officers at the Plumtree, Maitengwe, and Mphoengs border posts to keep war veterans leader Andreas Ethan Mathibela from leaving the country and has put him under surveillance.
President’s department monitors Mathibela’s movements closely
One of the leaders of the large-scale demonstrations planned for Thursday to voice public dissatisfaction with the high levels of corruption in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration is Mathibela, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association. Police, however, have refused to authorize the demonstrations.
The officer-in-charge of the President’s Department (Central Intelligence Organization) in Plumtree named Mathibela a “person of security interest,” suggesting that he poses a security risk, in a letter dated March 19, 2023, to the regional immigration officer.
Immigration officials ordered to block Mathibela’s departure
“Please deny the individual exit and notify the President’s Department if he attempts to leave at Plumtree, Maitengwe, or Mphoengs Border Posts,” the letter said.
According to News day, a tiny number of war veterans, including Mathibela, have openly challenged Mnangagwa’s leadership and pledged to thwart any efforts to prolong the Zanu PF leader’s term in office past 2028.
After holding several press conferences calling for Mnangagwa to resign, Blessed Runesu Geza, also known as Bombshell, who was Mnangagwa’s other critic, went into hiding a month ago. In a second statement released Tuesday evening, Geza threatened to stage “a decisive uprising” unless Mnangagwa resigned by March 31.
