Redcliff Mayor, Councilor Clayton Masiyatsva (main picture) has accused police authorities from the dormitory town of ‘playing dirty politics’ and working on a sinister ploy to fix him amid reports that they have been hunting down on him, trying to cook up criminal charges against him.

Masiyatsva’s claims come amid poorly evidenced reports insinuating that the opposition MDC Alliance Mayor was at war with his neighbors in Torwood suburb after he is said to have held a ‘noisy and highly subscribed birthday party’ in barefaced defiance of set Covid19 regulations.

“I think the police are playing dirty political games,” Masiyatsva told Zwnews in an interview yesterday.

“I actually received a call from ZRP Redcliff officer-in-charge (a one Chiwara) and he was accusing me of having held a party at my residence. And, considering the fact that we are in the Covid19 era, it is quite puzzling that I am yet to get arrested,” he said.

According to Masiyatsva, the birthday party in question was of a next-door primary school-going child attended by predominantly children.

He said no party had been held at his place of residence and also expressed shock over ZRP Redcliff’s failure to institute arrests after another bash involving Gure dancers had been held in the same neighborhood.

“That birthday party was held next door where only toddlers were in attendance and they were actually using a TV set on the day in question. It is not true that I am at war with my neighbors as I have had cordial relations with them for the past forty years that I have been staying in the Q-Section”.

Added Masiyatsva:

“I am really concerned over the actions of the police in recent weeks as they have also been disturbing my execution of council duties in the wards, citing implementation of Covid19 observance”.

“A couple of weeks ago, I was forced by the police to abort a gathering of less than fifteen residents who wanted to get an update of the borehole drilling project that was being spearheaded by the MP (Lloyd Dzikamai Mukapiko)”.

“You just cannot understand how a gathering of minus-15 people can be said to be a super-spreader while a ZANU PF gathering involving thousands without any observance of the current Covid19 regulations, is not”.

The Redcliff Mayor further said that he was ‘suspicious the police were up to no good at all’.

“It is clear that there is a political hand behind all this”, Cllr Masiyatsva said.

Zwnews