Ms Khumalo was raided at her home in Bulawayo in the early
hours of Saturday and the suspected robbers made off with several items
including a television set and laptop.
She also revealed that the robbers sprayed her face with an
itchy substance and tried to stab her on the head but she blocked the object
with her hand resulting in injury.
Before the attack, Ms Khumalo has been away from the public
glare after she revealed in December last year that she was diagnosed with
breast cancer.
Earlier last year, Ms Khumalo and party vice-president Ms
Lynnette Karenyi-Kore reportedly almost came to blows at their leader Mr Nelson
Chamisa’s office in Harare in a raging war over the post of leader of the
opposition in Parliament.
Ms Khumalo was leader of the opposition before she was
replaced by Ms Karenyi-Kore in a development that reportedly caused a rift
between the two.
However, after the courts ruled Mr Chamisa illegitimate to
lead the MDC-T, Dr Thokozani Khupe became leader of the opposition.
Party sources say the fiasco over leader of the house
resulted in Ms Khumalo “absconding” national standing committee meetings until
Mr Chamisa charged her deputy Mr Job Sikhala to chair the meetings.
However, some officials have said Ms Khumalo has not been
able to attend the meetings as she was receiving her cancer treatment.
The criminal acts by the yet to be identified perpetrators
should be condemned in the strongest terms and it is hoped that the police
would, through their investigations, identify and arrest the criminals.
Most unfortunate, however, were attempts by the party to
try and gain currency by alleging, without evidence, that the attack on Ms
Khumalo was politically motivated.
“We wish our National Chair, Hon Thabitha Khumalo, a speedy
recovery. She was violently attacked by robbers at her home in Bulawayo
yesterday in suspicious circumstances. Get well soon, our warrior queen!”
posted the party on its Twitter handle on Sunday.
The party’s officials, quoted in various publications, went
as far as suggesting that the raid on Ms Khumalo’s house could have been done
by State agents, an old strategy by the party to try and blame everything on
Government.
Reacting to the news of the attack on Ms Khumalo, the
permanent secretary in the ministry of Information Publicity and Broadcasting
Services, Mr Nick Mangwana, wished Ms Khumalo a speedy recovery.
“May she get well, soon. Home invaders and burglars in
Zimbabwe are getting more daring and aggressive.
Personally, I think homeowners are justified in applying
force to protect themselves, their families and properties,” said Mr Mangwana.
In another comment, Mr Mangwana said there has been a
general pattern in burglaries by criminals warning against the peddling of
falsehoods to divide the nation.
It is unhelpful, therefore, for the MDC- Alliance to run
ahead of the police, charged with investigating and solving crimes, and come up
with theories around a criminal case for political expedience.
The claims are a disservice to Ms Khumalo and all would-be
victims to these criminals as they would continue with their burglary spree
knowing that the MDC-Alliance has covered them with political conspiracies.
Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment