Tsvangirai boycotts govt over ally detention
Zimbabwe's PM Morgan Tsvangirai refuses to come to government office in protest at detention of ally Roy Bennett
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By Matthew Champion. |  |
Thursday, 15, Oct 2009 05:08
By Nqobani Ndlovu.
Zimbabwe's prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai refused to come to his government office in protest at the detention of his top ally Roy Bennett.
Mr Tsvangirai on Wednesday also cancelled a weekly meeting of a council of ministers shortly after Mr Bennett was thrown into prison over terrorism charges.
"The prime minister has suspended his coming to the office until the issue of Senator Bennett is resolved," James Maridadi, a spokesperson for Mr Tsvangirai, said.
"He wants that matter resolved immediately.
"The prime minister was keen to meet President [Robert] Mugabe to talk about Senator Bennett's issue but all communication was not successful."
A court on Wednesday ordered the detention of Mr Bennett, a senior official in Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, and ruled he should stand trial on terrorism charges.
The indictment of Mr Bennett is seen as a huge test yet to Zimbabwe's fragile coalition government between President Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai.
Mr Bennett is the MDC's nominee for deputy agriculture minister. But his scheduled swearing in this February was disrupted by his arrest.
Mugabe has refused to swear in Mr Bennett whose charges are linked to a cache of weapons found in the eastern border town of Mutare, southern Zimbabwe.
In statement earlier on Wednesday, the MDC said Mr Bennett's detention pending the outcome of the trial in the high court was a "serious attack on the credibility" of Zimbabwe's power-sharing government.
"The MDC regards today's indictment and subsequent detention of treasurer-general and deputy agriculture minister-designate Bennett as yet another serious attack on the credibility of the inclusive government," the party said.
Zimbabwe's coalition government is teetering on the brink of collapse due to Mugabe's refusal to implement outstanding terms of a power sharing deal signed last year.