Zim court aquits MDC lawmaker

HARARE – A Zimbabwean court on Monday threw out a fraud case against a lawmaker from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC which the party said was the third ‘trumped-up’ charge to be dropped in a month.

Edmore Marima, a lawmaker from Bikita East, was acquitted of fraud after a Harare magistrate said no offence had been committed, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said in a statement.’Marima becomes the third MDC MP in the past month to be acquitted of trumped-up charges which Zanu PF is trying to use to whittle down the ruling party’s majority in Parliament,’ party said.The lawmaker was charged with abusing a farming inputs scheme established for members of Parliament last year, but the magistrate told the court that information had been kept from MDC lawmakers ‘in order to trap them’, the party said.Several lawmakers from Tsvangirai’s party have been arrested in recent months which the MDC claims is a crackdown against the party.In February, the party formed a unity government with veteran President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF, in a bid to end political unrest that erupted after last year’s failed elections.But the two remain deadlocked over key appointments, while Mugabe stands accused of dragging his feet over reforming media laws and the security forces.Tuesday marks the first anniversary since the leaders penned a power-sharing pact that underpins the unity government. – Nampa-AFP