The MDC categorically states that there is no outfit called
Vanguard, an otherwise peaceful and disciplined team of MDC youths, which has
since been disbanded on the orders of the national council, the party’s Supreme
decision-making body in between Congresses.
As the MDC Youth Assembly we note with serious concern the
attempt by the police and the military to arrogate responsibility of the August
1 shootings to a non-existent peaceful outfit which was disbanded soon after
the unfortunate incidences in Buhera at the burial of our late iconic Leader Dr
Morgan Tsvangirai.
The Vanguard was a team of youths that went about peaceful
drills at party events but was misinterpreted by political detractors as a
violent outfit. On the orders of the party leadership, the Vanguard was
disbanded. What is missed is that the Vanguard was not a terrorist or military
term but rather it is leftist diction that refers to ideologically correct party
cadres.
In any case, the Vanguard was not an armed outfit. Guns are
not sold over the counter in this country. Harare is an MDC territory and it
defies logic to say the MDC could have shot people in a zone that it controls.
This does not make sense.
The MDC believes in the rule of law. If it were true that
it was the MDC that had gunned down people, why would it wait for three months
for senior police and military officers to soil the image of the MDC youths
before a Commission of Inquiry without effecting any arrest. The Commission of
inquiry was set up on August 29 four weeks after the killings and no one has
been arrested. Why would the law enforcement agencies not effect any arrest
only to rant before a Commission three and half months later?
We are disturbed that yesterday’s rantings by the police
and military leadership before the Commission may be a precursor to a hatchet
job to plant guns or military arsenal at Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House or at
the houses of some in the MDC leadership. It has happened before and innocent
party cadres were arrested and spent months in prison on trumped-up charges of
banditry and terrorism only to be discharged by the courts.
The MDC Youth Assembly demands that the perpetrators of the
heinous murders be identified and immediately be brought to book. We reiterate
our position that those who were in charge of the military can assist the
Commission and the nation on what really transpired. The MDC is clean and
demands that justice be done. No amount of propaganda will absolve the real
culprits who are known and can be identified.
The MDC is not a terrorist organization. It is a legitimate
political party that is in Parliament and that runs the majority of cities and
towns in this country, including Harare where the needless blood was shed in
broad daylight. The MDC cannot be in the business of participating in elections
and then engaging in terrorist activities. We are a legitimate political
movement that carries out legitimate political business.
The MDC Youth Assembly wants justice to be done. We are
concerned that government state agencies are blaming the shootings on an
unarmed MDC youth outfit that has since been disbanded. If anyone had committed
the crime in the MDC, they should have been immediately arrested rather than to
blame a non-existent outfit before a Commission of inquiry almost four months
later.
It’s a shameful cover-up.
Lovemore Chinoputsa
Secretary General
MDC Youth Assembly
0 comments:
Post a Comment