( CNN ) -- Police in Zimbabwe Monday failed to bring to court an opposition activist who was scheduled to become a government minister on Friday but was arrested instead . Zimbabwe police officers at Mutare Magistrates Court where Roy Bennett 's scheduled appearance was postponed . Roy Bennett of the Movement for Democratic Change was supposed to be sworn in as deputy agriculture minister last week under a power-sharing agreement between the MDC and President Robert Mugabe 's ZANU-PF party . Bennett was charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism , sabotage and banditry . Police added another charge , contravening the Immigration Act , on the day he was scheduled to appear in court . They accuse Bennett of attempting to leave the country illegally . His party has decried the charges as `` trumped up . '' His lawyer said Monday 's court proceedings were canceled because prosecutors were unable to make it from the capital Harare to the court where the proceeding was to take place , in Mutare , 132 miles ( 213 km ) away . It is unclear why local prosecutors are not being used . Bennett 's lawyer Trust Maanda says he hopes his client will appear on Tuesday . `` He is doing fine considering the conditions of the cells he is being kept in , '' Maanda said . `` There is no food or running water , sanitation facilities are not working , the cells are overcrowded and there are no blankets . '' Bennett was arrested on Friday while on his way to South Africa , where he has been living for three years . Bennett , who is also the MDC party 's treasurer , was pulled from an aircraft at the airport in Zimbabwe 's capital , Harare , the MDC said . Police accuse him of funding the acquisition of weapons to commit the crimes he is charged with . Bennett , a white coffee grower , is an old foe of Mugabe 's government . His farms were seized during the country 's controversial land reform program . He has previously been jailed for assaulting Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa in parliament . The arrest happened the same day that other MDC ministers in the new unity government took their oaths of office . The power-sharing agreement came into effect only after months of on-again , off-again negotiations between Mugabe , who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 , and the MDC , led by Morgan Tsvangirai . Under Mugabe 's government , the country has gone from being one of the breadbaskets of Africa to dire poverty . A cholera epidemic is raging , much of the population lacks adequate food and water , many public sector workers are on strike , and the country suffers such severe inflation it recently knocked 12 zeroes off its currency . -- CNN 's Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report .
Court proceedings against arrested Zimbabwe opposition activist delayed . His lawyers said he could not make it to the court 100 miles from Harare . Roy Bennett arrested him , the day he was due to be made a government minister . Movement for Democratic Change says the conspiracy charges are still up .