MDC officials granted bail

Six Zimbabwe opposition party officials detained outside their headquarters on Friday have been released on bail after being charged with ‘criminal nuisance’ and breaching regulations to curb the Covid-19 virus. Police arrested MDC vice-presidents Tendai Biti and Lynette Kore, and four other officials as they tried to enter the headquarters occupied by a splinter group involved in a legal battle over party leadership. A report on the News24 site notes that the MDC Alliance officials had sought police assistance to eject members of the splinter faction led by one of party founder Morgan Tsvangirai's former deputies who had occupied the building in central Harare. The party has been locked in a bitter succession battle since Tsvangirai died in 2018.