Abduction of 25 year-old lawmaker draws anger in Zimbabwe

A Zimbabwean opposition lawmaker was abducted by unknown armed men on Wednesday, assaulted, and then dumped about 50 km north of the capital Harare, members of his party said.

Takudzwa Ngadziore, 25, one of the youngest legislators for the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) posted a live video on Facebook showing a man running toward him with a rifle before it cut off after seven seconds.

CCC chief whip in parliament Amos Chibaya said he was later found near mine shafts in the village of Mazowe naked, badly assaulted, and injected with an unknown substance.

“Ngadziore was this morning on his way to parliament abducted and tortured at gunpoint,’’ Chibaya told Reuters, calling it an example of “surging politically motivated violence’’.

CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi confirmed the abduction and said a police report would be filed.

Contacted for comment, police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said: “I am yet to get that report.”

Zimbabwe’s government spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The incident came barely two months after the abduction of a CCC councilor, Womberaishe Nhende, who has since fled the country.

Zimbabwe’s opposition parties have been calling for a fresh election since President Emmerson Mnangagwa secured a second term in office.

Despite flagging irregularities in the electoral process, a Southern African Development Community (SADC) extraordinary summit on Tuesday formally endorsed the results.