HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s opposition leader warned Wednesday that the country is “heading into a dangerous direction” as his party mourned an official abducted while campaigning for upcoming elections and later found dead.
Tapfumaneyi Masaya, 51, was part of a team of Citizens for Change Coalition activists campaigning Saturday in Harare’s Mabvuku township when he was seized by unidentified people and bundled into a vehicle, said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which is giving legal representation to his family.
Masaya’s body was dumped near a park on the outskirts of the capital and taken to a morgue where it was identified by his family and fellow party activists Monday. Police confirmed the body had been identified.
“The callous politically motivated abduction and murder of Tapfumanei Masaya is a tragic and ugly turn of politics in Zimbabwe,” Nelson Chamisa posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The opposition has accused the ruling ZANU-PF party and security agencies of leading the harassment of its activists and Masaya’s death.
A ruling party spokesman, Farai Marapira, accused the opposition of “seeking political mileage from an unfortunate death,” denying his party’s involvement. Police said they are investigating the abduction and killing.
There has been growing international condemnation of deteriorating human rights in Zimbabwe.
The U.S. Embassy said on X it was “alarmed” by Masaya’s case and called for a full investigation.
Amnesty International in a statement called on authorities to “immediately address the escalating cases of abductions, arbitrary detention, torture and killing of parliament members, opposition political activists and human rights defenders.”
Supporters and relatives gathered at...
