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Monday, August 6, 2018

Ex-Raila aide Silas Jakakimba denies link to Zimbabwe poll chaos

Former ODM leader Raila Odinga's personal assistant Silas Jakakimba has dismissed claims he was linked to Zimbabwe's post poll chaos.

He said in a statement on Sunday that the purported claim "is not even remotely possible."

There were reports that Zimbabwe police are seeking Jakakimba for investigations into his role in the skirmishes, owing to his close association with MDC leader Nelson Chamisa.

Various news outlets in Zimbabwe quoted police chief spokesperson Charity Charamba saying: "The Zimbabwe Republic Police is keen to interview Jakakimba, a Kenyan national, in connection with the disturbances which occurred in Harare on August 1, 2018."

"Members of the public with information of his whereabouts should contact CID Law and Order or National Complaints Desk on or any nearest police station," one of the papers stated.

Read: Three killed in Harare as troops clash with opposition protesters

But Jakakimba maintains that he was not and has never been a strategist for the MDC alliance or its presidential candidate Chamisa. 

He added that it was Raila who asked him to convey his goodwill message to MDC alliance in its last public rally days to the July 31 election.

"I arrived on Friday July 27, on the eve of that major rally. If you check YouTube footage, you will notice Nelson Chamisa informing the mammoth crowd that 'the Alliance is pleased to welcome goodwill message from Raila," the lawyer quips.

Jakakimba said he was received at the airport by Tsvangirai's wife and his former PA, Joseph Mungwari, information he says can be verified by the country's immigration officers.

He said his association with the party stems from the close relations its former leader Morgan Tsvangirai had with ODM party and Raila.

"Even so, it is a matter of intercontinental public domain that ODM and its top leadership have had a checkered relationship with the MDC and its then leader, the late Morgan Tsvangirai."

"Notably, both formations have been dedicated grassroots change movements on the continent and this informs informs the close linkages between the two," Jakakimba said.

"You would be interested to note that there is nothing irregular at all in this. In 2012, Tsvangirai himself was the chief guest at ODM's National Convention where Raila was publicly installed as the ODM presidential candidate."

He further cited Raila's attendance of Tsvangirai's funeral at the latter's rural home as one of the pointers of the close ties the ODM leader has with the party. "I accompanied him," Jakakimba said.

He adds that he was in Harare for three days and on departure, "Harare was normal, folks warm and welcoming, streets busy and skies clear-blue."

Zimbabwe's electoral commission declared Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the presidential vote on Friday.

More on this: Mnangagwa wins Zimbabwe poll, Chamisa rejects the results

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