Police and the army last night sought to clear themselves
and throw blame on alleged impersonators following reports that at least 12
people were killed by soldiers and the police during last week’s nationwide
protests against economic hardships.
The military and the police were heavily deployed during
the mass stayaway and were seen publicly firing live ammunition, beating up and
harassing many civilians in broad daylight. There were also many reports of
night raids and beatings by the combined forces mostly in high-density suburbs
in cities and towns across the country.
Police spokesperson Commissioner Charity Charamba together
with her Zimbabwe Defence Forces counterpart, Colonel Overson Mugwisi, last
night called a press conference where they disowned military and police members
who have been exposed as having been ring leaders of looting and violence
during the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) organised national
stayaway.
Mugwisi and Charamba refused to take questions from curious
journalists who wanted to seek clarity on the denials which came days after the
exposure of military involvement in the violent protests. They did not say why
they did not want to answer questions.
“We shall respond to your questions next time. We are very
sorry we will not take questions today,” Charamba said.
The two claimed criminals had stolen army and police
regalia during the disturbances in Chegutu and Epworth and used the same to
commit crimes elsewhere.
“Some of these uniforms worn by criminals were seized by
rogue elements during the recent riots in Epworth and Chegutu. We are therefore
giving an ultimatum to individuals who have retired, deserted, absented
themselves without official leave from service to immediately handover uniforms
either to the police or the Zimbabwe Defence Forces,” Charamba said.
A serving top military official, one Lieutenant Morrosi
Carnage of Inkomo Mounted Regiment and a police officer, Ignatius Zuze were
unmasked as leaders of the violent protests which led to the death of civilians
and looting of shops in Epworth. Known Zanu PF youth leaders were also arrested
for allegedly inciting the protests, arson and looting.
Commenting on the statement from the police and army,
Jealousy Mawarire, the spokesperson of the opposition National Patriotic Front
said: “The claim that there are non-security people committing atrocities while
clad in police and military garb is very unconvincing and even if true, speaks
of failure by the security sector to, not only run their institution, but also
look after their tools of trade.
He added: “Surely, we can’t have an army or police force
failing to account for their uniforms, weapons and officers, whether retired,
dead or resurrected. The real issue is that there are divisions in the army, police
and the state along the faulty lines within a disintegrating Zanu PF. The
centre is no longer holding and another coup is loading.”
In the past few days police have swooped on opposition and
civic leaders arresting several legislators and leaders of civil society some
of whom have been charged with treason.
Meanwhile, there have been unverified claims of sharp
divisions within Zanu PF and government with sources saying the divisions would
play out more openly in the near-future.
Yesterday, Zanu PF Harare provincial member and former
Finance deputy minister, Terrance Mukupe made curious statements to the effect
that all was not well in the ruling party. He said Mnangagwa would soon return
to put an end to the current crisis but claimed the president was not the
target of the unrest which he said was part of a bigger scheme and rift in the
party.
“I am worried with what’s going on… The citizens are blind
to what’s really going on. The next 72 hours are going to be crucial regarding
the path we are going to take as a nation. The truth will come out. President
Mnangagwa is not the issue, Viva Zimbabwe,” Mukupe tweeted.
The United Nations has raised concern over the manner
security forces handled the stay away. The world body through its human rights
office based in Geneva said it was concerned that the security forces were
using live ammunition against unarmed citizens and also suggested that
criminals could have hijacked the ZCTU strike and embarked on looting and acts
of violence.
The UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasan
said government should end the crackdown and excessive use of force by security
forces.
“The bottom line is that the use of live ammunition by
security forces was excessive. This is not the way to react to expression of
economic grievances by the population. There was some use of violence by the
protestors as well, fires were set, shops and business were looted, as always,
it is difficult to determine who did this. Was it opportunists taking advantage
of the chaos to do that? Was it the demonstrators themselves, it is very
difficult to understand that,” said Shamdasan.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for
restraint by the Zimbabwe authorities.
“We are worried with the deterioration of the situation
caused by the potential use of excessive violence in confronting the
demonstrations in Zimbabwe,” Guterres told a news conference in New York on
Friday.
The group of eminent former statesmen and respected leaders
known as the Council of Elders also raised their voice over the behaviour of
the military and the police in Zimbabwe saying government should engage its
people and not use force.
“The Elders express deep concern at the worsening social
and economic situation in Zimbabwe and urge peaceful resolution of the crisis
through inclusive dialogue,” the Elders tweeted on Friday. On the same day the
European Union had also condemned the violent crackdown by the Zimbabwe
military. Standard
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