Zimbabwe News Update
newzimbabwe
3 min read
By Kingston NdabateiIBBO Mandaza, the SAPES Trust director whose institution was torched by suspected state agents Monday night, could only watch as opposition figures who had come out in solidarity fled and dumped him at the sight of ZRP’s feared anti-riot officers.Tendai Biti, Job Sikhala and Jacob Ngarivhume had visited SAPES Trust to check damage caused by a fire that burnt most of its main auditorium, the Seminar Room.As they concluded speeches to the media, ZRP’s paramilitary unit descended on the premises, leading to their ‘unannounced exit’ even when Sikhala kept on telling others around him not to panic.Sikhala dashed into his tinted, black Mercedes-Benz, whose driver appeared to have been on stand-by.Upon seeing Sikhala jumping into the vehicle, Biti bundled himself into its backseat, next to the former Zengeza West legislator.Ngarivhume, who could no longer fit in the car as a result, rushed to his own Isuzu KB250, jumped in and had his driver speed off before police officers could react.Mandaza, who was the last speaker amongst them, was left alone and visibly shaken.
He barely finished off his last statement to journalists, sticking on “stopped,” a word he said seven times before the Biti, Sikhala and Ngarivhume flight.He eventually managed to explain that they had stopped having physical discussions at SAPES Trust, having opted for online events.https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/newzimlive/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/28195622/sapes.mp4Biti, Sikhala and Ngarivhume are some of the country’s opposition figures campaigning against Zanu PF’s proposed “illegal” extension of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s second term.
They have, on different platforms, urged Zimbabweans not to accept the blatant disrespect to their constitution.Biti and Sikhala were once senior members of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) before a nasty fallout that saw their president, Nelson Chamisa, dump the outfit. Describing Chamisa as a coward and being toochurchish, they decided to go it alone.Biti took over on a rotational leadership role with Bulawayo-based Welshman Ncube before quitting the arrangement.
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