In a devastating turn of events, Zimbabwe opposition activist Tapfumaneyi Masaya was discovered lifeless after a brutal abduction during a political campaign just outside Harare. The Citizens Coalition for Change party revealed that Masaya, campaigning for the CCC's candidate ahead of the December 9 by-elections, was forcibly taken by unidentified assailants on Saturday. According to CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi, Masaya faced torture and was callously discarded on the outskirts of Harare.
The party's desperate search for him led to the identification of his body at Parirenyatwa hospital's mortuary, approximately 3 miles from central Harare. While Reuters could not independently verify the sequence of events, the incident marks the second abduction of an opposition party member in recent weeks. Two weeks prior, CCC lawmaker Takudzwa Ngadziore survived a similar ordeal of abduction, torture, and abandonment by armed men. Zimbabwe's troubling history of forced disappearances and political activist deaths, dating back to the 1980s, casts a grim shadow. The opposition has consistently accused the ruling Zanu-PF party of complicity in the torture and deaths of its activists.
Despite an ongoing police investigation, the identity of the body found in the vicinity of Masaya's reported discovery remains undisclosed. CCC spokesperson Mkwananzi urged the authorities to swiftly bring the abductors to justice, emphasizing the importance of a thorough and efficient investigation.The tragic events surrounding Masaya's abduction and demise intensify the opposition's call for a fresh election in Zimbabwe. President Emmerson Mnangagwa's securing of a second term in August has been vehemently contested by opposition parties, with CCC leader Nelson Chamisa denouncing the vote as a "gigantic fraud." In response, Zanu-PF has consistently denied the allegations of fraud.