By Costa Nkomo
The whereabouts of pro-democracy activists Namatai Kwekweza, Samuel Gwenzi, Robson Chere, and Vusumuzi Moyo remain unknown after being forcibly removed by suspected state security agents from a plane at Robert Mugabe International Airport on Wednesday.
Chere is the secretary general of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), Gwenzi is a former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) ward 5 councillor, and Kwekweza, director of the WeLEAD organisation were reportedly taken to an undisclosed destination.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) expressed deep concern over the activists’ disappearance, confirming that they had been contacted by the trio on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are greatly concerned about the whereabouts of pro-democracy campaigner Namatai Kwekweza and two other people, who reached out to us after they were removed from a plane at Robert Mugabe International Airport. We are trying to ascertain their whereabouts and what is happening to them,” ZLHR stated on their X account.
This latest incident further underscores the escalating human rights abuses in Zimbabwe ahead of the 44th SADC Summit, where President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to assume the chairmanship amidst lingering questions over the legitimacy of his 2023 election victory, which SADC itself condemned as flawed.
The disappearances of the activists follow a pattern of intimidation and crackdowns on dissent. On June 16th, 79 CCC youth activists were arrested at the private residence of party administrator Jameson Timba in Avondale, Harare. Their bail applications were denied, leaving them in detention for over 44 days.
In the name of “cleaning up Harare” ahead of the summit, authorities have also arrested numerous street vendors, some of whom have been released.
