By A Correspondent
PHILIP Tawanda Kudzai, brother to incarcerated Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzai, has been arrested, police said Thursday.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said Tawanda handed himself over to the police on Tuesday evening.
The two brothers are charged with subversion, banditry, undermining the authority of the President and administering the shadowy face-book character, Baba Jukwa, through which they are alleged to have published or communicated false statements prejudicial to the State.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police would like to confirm that Philip Tawanda Kudzai, a consultant engineer with Dick and Kunaka Engineers, handed himself over to the CID law and order section through his lawyer Admire Rubaya at around 19.00 on June 24, 2014,” said Snr Asst Comm Charamba.
“He is being charged for subverting a constitutional government as defined by Section 22(2)(a) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act, Chapter 9.23, or alternatively attempting to commit an act of insurgency.”
The police chief said Tawanda was responsible for administering the Baba Jukwa page with his brother Edmund and other accomplices who are still at large.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police wishes to state that we are keen to arrest all the other accomplices,” said Snr Asst Comm Charamba.
It is alleged that in April last year, Kudzayi hatched a plan with his brother, Tawanda to overthrow the government through unconstitutional means.
Edmund allegedly created a g-mail account, babajukwa2013@gmail.com using a mobile phone line registered in Tawanda’s name, but used by him.
The duo allegedly formed two separate groups called the Gunda Nleya Brigade and the Zimbabwe Revolutionary Army to overthrow the government.
Kudzai allegedly posted articles on the Baba Jukwa’s face-book page which encouraged rebellion against government if the July 31 general election “were stolen”.
They also posted articles to the effect that they had a Dare reChimurenga in place and that a team was on the ground studying the situation in Zimbabwe.
On May 11 this year, the court heard that The Sunday Mail published a story about the true identity of Baba Jukwa titled “Hackers unmask Baba Jukwa”.
Investigations, however, revealed that the accused was the one in control of the Baba Jukwa g-mail account as his details were on the recovery panel of the said account, that it was his e-mail address and his brother’s Econet mobile number which he was using.
Investigations revealed that the account was never hacked into, the court heard.
Kudzayi appeared at the Harare magistrates’ courts on Monday, but magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe refused to hear his bail application and advised him to approach the High Court saying the charges he is facing were serious.
Kudzayi was remanded in custody to July 7 for routine remand.
He is facing two other charges of undermining the authority of the President and contravening the Firearms Act.
It is the State’s case that Kudzayi allegedly undermined the authority of the President in an article he wrote on August 7, 2008.
The Zimbabwe Mail, an online publication, allegedly published the article with knowledge that the information was false.
In the said article according to the State, Kudzayi went on to “falsely label the President a dictator who commits gross human rights abuses” and further accused him of having stolen the 2008 elections and that he had been presiding over an economic collapse.
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