By Ketty Nyoni
POLICE say continuing reckless statements on sensitive issues on social media by some political players are complicating their investigations into such cases.
Speaking last week on independent national television station 3Ktv’s widely-followed news and current affairs programme, Vantage, police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said injudicious public comments by politicians should not be allowed to cloud investigations.
Citing the recent case of Tapfumaneyi Masaya, a cleric and Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) supporter who was found dead in Harare, Nyathi said some politicians had made dangerous claims about the case on social media, although police were yet to release their findings about this.
“We have had these reports where people go on social media and claim that so and so has been abducted, that so and so has been kidnapped. “I want to urge Zimbabweans to report such cases first before making any insinuations. This will assist the police to conduct swift investigations and allow the due process of the law to be followed.
“The recent murder case which occurred in the Mabvuku area is under investigation. It’s a pure murder case,” Nyathi told 3Ktv.
“I know there are politicians who want to jump to conclusions and start pointing fingers, and start throwing accusations around, but we have said that people should wait for the investigations to be conducted.
“That’s one of the concerns from the police side … where we have some politicians coming up with conclusions, yet investigations are still unfolding. We have a challenge with some of our politicians because they always want to appear as if they are the ones conducting investigations.
And when we call upon them to give us information, they don’t come forward. “Surprisingly, they are happy to go on social media platforms … dishing out information, information which we say they should bring to the police,” Nyathi further told 3Ktv.
This comes after CCC accused ruling Zanu PF followers for the disappearance of Masaya, who was later found dead. Last week, Zanu PF aspiring candidate for Mabvuku-Tafara, Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya, implored his rival Febion Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi to help maintain peace among people living in the constituency.
Sakupwanya, who lost to Kufahakutizwi in the August 23parliamentary poll there, said the same peace that prevailed in Mabvuku-Tafara during that time should be maintained as the two square-up again in the December 9 by-election.