A spokesman for Zimbabwe’s main opposition party says Zambian officials gave no reason for deporting party members earlier this week. Nelson Chamisa, the spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change, said Zimbabwe’s government, led by President Robert Mugabe, was behind their deportation.
Chamisa dismissed claims on Zimbabwean state radio that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his delegation had violated Zambian immigration laws. But Chamisa said the MDC leader would not have been allowed to stay in Zambia for two days if he had disobeyed any rules.
From the capital, Harare, Chamisa told Voice of America reporter Peter Clottey, “The MDC leadership, under the guidance and leadership of Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, had some business on the other side of the border, on the Zambian side, in Victoria falls. And it was just for about two days, but unfortunately, for some unknown reasons and unclear circumstances, the Zambian authorities then requested us to be sent back to the Zimbabwean side without clarifying the reasons as to why they were doing that.”
Chamisa said around midnight there was a contingent of about 57 Zambian intelligence and the police officers besieging the hotel where they were staying and asking them to leave.
Chamisa said, ”Certainly, I mean this is something that borders on a lot of suspicion and I think that also raises a lot of sinister motives on the part of authorities and on the part of those involved. So naturally, as the MDC leadership, we are going to raise this matter with relevant authorities in both Zambia and Zimbabwe.”
