MUTARE – Police are investigating a security breach at Zanu PF’s annual conference held a fortnight ago after a minister’s personal assistant was intercepted with a firearm.
Brighton Ndebele, Zanu PF’s secretary for information and publicity in Matabeleland South and aide to industry and commerce minister Mangaliso Ndlovu, appeared before the Mutare Magistrates Court and was denied bail.
The 40-year-old’s arrest comes amid heightened tensions within Zanu PF, fuelled by a deepening feud between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga.
ZimLive understands that security at the conference was unusually tight, with all security aides — including those attached to ministers — barred from bringing weapons into the venue.
A multi-agency probe is now under way to determine whether Ndebele’s conduct was a lapse in judgement or part of something more deliberate.
A member of Zanu PF’s Matabeleland South executive told ZimLive: “Ndlovu is a close ally of the president, and in the fog of factionalism, Chiwenga’s people want to get to the bottom of this — hence his extended incarceration.”
Investigators have reportedly interviewed Ndebele’s two wives in Bulawayo as part of their inquiries.
Ndlovu, who is the Zanu PF Matabeleland South provincial chairman, said he was surprised to learn that his personal assistant had been arrested.
“I didn’t know he had a firearm with him. In any case his role as my PA does not require him to be in possession of one,” the minister said.
“He is still in custody so I have not spoken to him. He sent a message just before the phone was taken, just to inform me that he is in custody for possession of a firearm.”
Ndebele previously served as a pastor in the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Bulawayo before leaving in disgrace in 2017 following a groping incident involving a female lawyer and church member.
He was convicted of indecent assault and received a suspended 12-month prison sentence, after which he was deregistered by the church.
Source: ZimLive
