Tapfumaneyi Masaya: Abducted Zimbabwe opposition activist found dead

Tapfumaneyi Masaya's body was found on the outskirts of Harare, according to CCC

The wife of an abducted Zimbabwe opposition activist has identified her husband's dead body.

Tapfumaneyi Masaya, from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), was reported to have been bundled into a car by armed men.

A police spokesperson said that the other abductee was released for unknown reasons.

Masaya's abduction is the latest in a series of kidnappings involving opposition and rights activists.

His wife said a body found on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, from where he was snatched, was that of her husband.

The CCC said Masaya, a cleric, along with a fellow activist, was campaigning for its candidate in a parliamentary by-election in a low-income constituency in Harare, when they were forced into a car in broad daylight.

Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi confirmed to the BBC the other person kidnapped, Jeffrey Kalosi, was freed under still-to-be-clarified circumstances by the captors.

The by-election was triggered, along with several others across the country, following a letter to the speaker of parliament by a self-proclaimed interim secretary-general of the CCC, alleging that some of the party's MPs had ceased to be CCC members.

The speaker announced that the seats were vacant, despite the party leadership disowning Sengezo Tshabangu, who it said was acting at the behest of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Zanu-PF has vehemently denied responsibility saying some aggrieved CCC leaders are behind Mr Tshabangu.

Masaya's alleged abduction is the most recent in various kidnappings taking place of opposition party members and human rights activists.

They date back to the days of the late former President Robert Mugabe.

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There has been an uptick in the abductions, which the opposition blame on government security agents, since August's disputed general elections that saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa returned by 52.6% of the vote.

CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa, who also lost to Mr Mnagnagwa in 2018, polled 44.03%. The opposition has refused to accept the result, citing gross irregularities.

Local news is headlining on Masaya's death

Earlier this month, Takudzwa Ngadziore, an opposition MP, filmed a gun-toting man chasing him. The MP was later found outside Harare, reportedly naked and tortured.

He says he was injected with an unknown substance. Despite a clear image of the person chasing him on the video, the police are yet to make an arrest.

In October, unknown assailants kidnapped and tortured James Chidhakwa, the former opposition MP for Mabvuku-Tafara, where the late Masaya was abducted.

In early September, a CCC councillor-elect and a party colleague were captured and released after being tortured.

Zanu-PF and the authorities dismiss the abductions as a stage-managed effort to tarnish the government's image.

In a related matter, the speaker of parliament, has recalled 13 more CCC MPs who Mr Tshabangu said were no longer CCC members. This was despite a High Court ruling freezing all instructions by Mr Tshabangu until a case is heard to determine his authority.