Staff ReporterCitizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councillors Herbert Gomba and Lovemore Makuwerere were arrested on Wednesday on separate allegations, according to CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere. Gomba, the Ward 27 councillor, was taken into custody on allegations of holding a meeting with residents where he planned to unveil boreholes, while Makuwerere, the Ward 25 councillor, was arrested for allegedly assisting vendors who were being harassed by police.
Mahere stated that lawyers have been dispatched to attend to both councillors.
The arrests come at a time of heightened political tension in Zimbabwe as the country prepares for harmonized elections later this year.
Opposition members and supporters have been attacked in recent months, with most of their events banned. CCC legislator for Zengeza West, Job Sikhala, has been in prison for over six months on charges of inciting violence and has repeatedly been denied bail.
CCC believes that these persecutions are politically motivated tactics by the ruling party, Zanu PF, to silence opposing voices.
