Secessionist Leader Fears for His Life

Thabo Kunene

8 June 2011

Bulawayo — Only three days after he was released from prison, the leader of Zimbabwe’s secessionist organisation Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) Paul Siwela has told RNW that he fears for his life and is appealing to the international community for protection.

Siwela, who is one of the three leaders of the movement campaigning for the independence of Matabeleland province, was released from the notorious Khami Maximum Security Prison on Saturday after he spent three months in solitary confinement.

“I am appealing to the international community to help me and my family because I don’t feel safe. Anyone can walk into my house and kill me,” the 49-year-old politician and businessman told RNW.

According Siwela, the whole aim of putting him in solitary confinement and denying him bail for three months was meant to break his spirit. He said he almost lost his sanity during his incarceration at Khami Prison where hundreds of activists died in the eighties when President Mugabe waged war against his rival, Joshua Nkomo.

No talking for Siwela

Siwela is charged with treason and complains about his bail conditions which prevent him from publicly discussing politics and attending or speaking at political meetings. He should also remain in Bulawayo for the duration of his case.

The authorities consider him to be the most dangerous of the MLF leaders and fear his influence in his native Matabeleland. When other MLF leaders, John Gazi and Charles Thomas, were granted bail on the same treason charges in April, Siwela was sent back to prison because he had other serious cases to answer.

“I am a politician and need to be with my people. How do they want me to survive as a leader when I can’t meet others? I have become a slave because I am confined to my office and to family and can’t talk to anyone,” added Siwela. He came out of prison looking frail, sick, emotionally drained and had lost weight.

Facebook reactions

He had become a mere shadow of the energetic politician the people of Matabeleland know. The Supreme Court alllowed his release only if he signed an official document declaring that he would not participate in any political activities and campaigns for a separate state for the people of Matabeleland.

As soon as Siwela walked out of Khami Prison social networking site Facebook was awash with messages of solidarity from the people of Matabeleland. But most people from Mashonaland see him as a nuisance and think he should remain in prison. The Shona accuse him of trying to cause war and divide the country.

“This Siwela guy belongs in prison because he is trying to divide our people along tribal lines,” read one facebook comment. But Matabeleland political parties such as the MDC, led by Welshman Ncube, welcomed his release saying it was overdue because he has not committed any offence.

MDC party condemns arrest

In fact it was the MDC-N party that paid bail money for the release of two other MLF leaders, Gazi and Thomas, both of them former guerrilla fighters. MDC-N Bulawayo information chief, Edwin Ndlovu told RNW that although his party doesn’t agree with MLF policies and ideologies, they condemn his arrest and incarceration by the state.

“Our party MDC-N is a national party and supports devolution of power to all provinces not MLF ideology for a seperate state for the Ndebele, ” Ndlovu told RNW.

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