Nine villagers from Wastomba in Manicaland have been charged for allegedly booing first lady Auxillia Mnangagwa
The 9 women in the image below were arrested and charged for allegedly booing First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa during her address at Watsomba Business Centre.
The 9 women, namely Nester Chatiwana aged 41 years, Panashe Machekanzondo aged 19 years, Winnet Sithole aged 19 years, Maria Choto aged 49 years, Esnath Choto aged 33 years, Ellen Rujuwa aged 28 years, Faith Chidhakwa aged 30 years, Patience Matasva aged 35 years, and Joyce Mashingaidza aged 29 years, were arrested by @PoliceZimbabwe on Wednesday and detained at Mutare Central Police Station before being charged with disorderly conduct in a public place.
In court, prosecutors claimed that the 9 women stood up and disrupted Mnangagwa’s speech by booing her as a way of showing their disgruntlement for not receiving some groceries and clothes, which she was distributing to people.
Prosecutors alleged that the women, who were seated on the ground, stood up and started booing the First Lady while she was making her closing remarks, intending to disrupt her speech and show their disgruntlement at not receiving anything from her.
The alleged behavior exhibited by the 9 women was deemed unlawful, abusive, and insulting to Mnangagwa. The women, represented by Tatenda Sigauke and David Tandiri of @ZLHRLawyers, were released on Friday on free bail by Mutare Magistrate Prisca Manhibi and are scheduled to return to court on 30 April. In their defense, the women deny the charges, arguing that they were unjustly targeted during a dragnet arrest after they chose to leave the venue early, while Mnangagwa was still addressing the crowd, but before the event had officially ended.
This incident is reminiscent of the heckling of former First Lady Grace Mugabe in November 2017 at White City Stadium in Bulawayo, where some ruling ZANU PF youth supporters jeered at her. These supporters were subsequently prosecuted for insulting and undermining the late former president Robert Mugabe’s wife.
We express our gratitude to the @ZLHRLawyers team for their dedicated efforts.👏👏👏
