By News Reporter
JOHANNESBURG – The man who accuses ZANU (PF) chairman, John Nkomo of indecently assaulting him is now destitute in South Africa, where he fled to after several alleged abductions and death threats by state security agents seeking to silence him.
Mncedisi Twala (30), now based in Johannesburg, told The ZimDiaspora that he has been a running man since he reported the alleged sodomy by Nkomo, which he says occurred in Zimbabwe’s second biggest city of Bulawayo in 2002.
“I have been abducted and beaten up by police, who accuse me of working with some politicians to try and stop Nkomo from becoming the next Vice President after the death of Joseph Msika,” said Twala.
“But I will not stop just because I was violated by someone who abused his status as a government official. I have been trying to report this matter to the police since it happened but they have always been trying to stifle my efforts by refusing to take my reports and threatening to deal silence me permanently.”
Twala says that the past few weeks have been very painful for him, following his alleged abductions and torture by Bulawayo police and members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
“At one stage, the police tried to frame me, saying that I am a wanted man who had committed a series of armed robberies in Bulawayo, just to make sure that I am kept in custody, where members of the CIO would then come and abduct and torture me.”
Nkomo, the National Healing minister, is also the favourite candidate to become co-vice-president with Joice Mujuru, following the death of Msika, and is very close to Mugabe, who has previously described homosexuals as "worse than pigs and dogs.
Twala added that some of his relatives, in fear of reprisals from the state agents, have also turned their back on him as he continues to fight his cumbersome battle to get justice for his ordeal in the hands of the ZANU (PF) strongman, who is also President Robert Mugabe’s closest ally in the Matabeleland region.
“Police have so far raided my uncle Bekezela Khumalo and also come here in South Africa and raided the house that I used to stay in here in Johannesburg, in hot pursuit of me.”
As a result, no one is prepared to take me into their houses and I am now forced to sleep on the streets.
Besides threats of ending Twala’s life, the state agents are said to have done no harm to the relatives that they have raided so far.
“They have, however, told them to pressure me to drop the charges against Nkomo, saying that this would only bring harm to me.”
Nkomo, who has denied the allegations, has engaged attorneys Chris John Dube of Dube, Banda & Nzarayapenga to fend them off, while Twala's lawyer is Mkhululi Nyathi of Mabhikwa, Hikwa & Nyathi.
Twala, who adds that he was psychologically affected by both his "unlawful detention" by police, is currently undergoing counseling in South Africa.
Twala says that his alleged sodomy ordeal happened in April 2002 after meeting Nkomo as Bulawayo’s Centenary Park, where Twala used to spend time taking photographs, but the alleged sodomy took place at a hotel after Nkomo had invited him there.
After the report, he was arrested and detained at Luveve police station, before being moved to Western Commonage police station in Mpopoma.
He remained there for days, but was visited again barely 24 hours later, by police, who asked him on whether he had applied for a passport and whether he could positively identify the police officer to whom he first attempted to file the sodomy report in 2002.
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