HARARE - Co-Home Affairs minister Theresa Makone faces arrest for allegedly shouting at the Borrowdale Police Station officer-in-charge after 19 MDC campaigners on a door-to-door voter registration campaign in Hatcliffe were detained.

Police say the arrested activists were wearing T-shirts inscribed ministry of Home Affairs and pretended to be government officials while on MDC party business.

Makone is accused of phoning and pressuring police to release the 19 MDC campaigners.

National police spokesperson Charity Charamba told the Daily News yesterday that police were probing the case.

“We are investigating the matter in which one cabinet minister phoned the officer-in-charge for Borrowdale Police Station shouting at him, saying all sorts of threats demanding that he releases 19 MDC supporters arrested for purporting to be officials from Home Affairs,” Charamba said.

“This is unprocedural and tantamount to obstructing the course of justice.”

Although Charamba declined to name the minister, Makone confirmed to the Daily News yesterday that indeed she telephoned Borrowdale Police Station seeking the release of the MDC supporters and insisted they had not committed a crime.

Makone denied that she had overstepped her mandate and also rejected charges she had attempted to defeat the course of justice as alleged by police.

“I never shouted at him because I know that those people would be recording every conversion you make with them,” Makone said.

“I only said to him it would be justified to arrest me because I was responsible for the distribution of those T-shirts.

“In any case, I will be surprised if they don’t charge me with that because they have tried it on many occasions before.”

Makone maintained that there was nothing wrong with her campaign and said even her counterpart at the ministry, Kembo Mohadi, was given the T-shirts to distribute to his supporters in Beitbridge. - Xolisani Ncube