POLICE yesterday brutally attacked MDC supporters, people
waiting in bank queues and passers-by in Harare’s central business district,
using baton sticks, tear gas and water canons to block opposition leader Nelson
Chamisa from delivering a speech.
In a move which MDC deputy president Tendai Biti hoped
would attract the ire of Sadc, South Africa and the international community,
armed riot police pummelled and injured a handful of supporters who had gathered
outside their party headquarters.
“We don’t accept this, we are not a terrorist organisation,
we are not a fascist organisation. Since 2017, we have seen the closure of our political
space because of (President) Emmerson Mnangagwa,” Biti said.
“We don’t accept this. We say no to fascism. We say no to
this madness. Sadc must be watching this, Dr (Stergomena) Tax (Sadc executive
secretary) must be watching this. President (Cyril) Ramaphosa must be watching
this. This is not acceptable and must stop.”
Former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said the
government was shooting itself in the foot by violently cracking down on
democracy.
“These are the self-imposed sanctions we keep talking
about, pathetic. Then you have the nerve to run around like a headless chicken
asking others to remove their measures against you when you are busy
subjugating and brutalising your own people, giving the external players the
excuse and rationale to keep their sanctions in place,” Mutambara said.
“It is called strategic incoherence.”In the past few months, the police have blocked MDC rallies
and demonstrations at least nine times, alleging that their meetings were
happening at a time Zimbabweans were suffering under a heavy economic crisis
and, therefore, could turn violent.
Yesterday’s attack started soon after Chamisa arrived at
the party headquarters to deliver his Hope of the Nation Address (HONA) amid
rapturous welcome.
The opposition leader had to walk past a bulwark of riot
police officers who blocked access to the party headquarters at both ends of
the street, trapping everyone in-between.
Aided by two water canon trucks and five police vans filled
with officers in riot gear, the men in uniform did not spare anyone.
They beat up even the elderly and journalists, with the
bashing extending to shoppers and hundreds of people who were queuing at banks
to get their measly daily allocation of the new local currency.
Before the attacks, police approached the MDC leadership
fronted by Chamisa’s spokesperson, Nkululeko Sibanda, telling them to order
their supporters into Harvest House or leave the streets.
They also demanded that the supporters stop toyi-toying and
singing on the pavements alleging that they were agitating other members of the
public; but Sibanda pleaded constitutionalism.
“We have the right to freedom of movement and association,
we are at our headquarters and surely we can sing. We respect your desire for peace
and we can assure you that as long as the police do not sponsor violence
against the people of Zimbabwe, there will be peace here,” Sibanda said.
Police then suddenly ran amok, sounding sirens across town
and attacking ordinary people conducting their business some 200 metres away
from the MDC headquarters, leaving eight seriously injured, while many others
lost personal belongings in the melee.
There was also heavy police presence at Africa Unity
Square, where people were cleared out and told they could not even use the
facility for recreational purposes because Chamisa had initially planned to
deliver his HONA there.
He then later shifted the venue to the party’s
headquarters, where he had hoped to deliver it from the balcony of the second
floor of the party building.
A group of young lawyers condemned the brutal police
attack, saying it violated the Constitution and placed Zimbabwe on the path of
a pariah State.
“We deplore the excessive use of force and indiscriminate
violence by the police against their own country men and women and again call
upon the State to hold those responsible to account,” reads a statement from
Young Lawyers Association of Zimbabwe.
“There is no legal or moral basis for the police brutality
witnessed this morning (yesterday) regardless of whether people were legally
gathered or not, the conduct of the police violated the constitutional right to
freedom from violence in terms of section 52 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.”
But national police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner
Paul Nyathi said initially, the MDC had notified the police that they wanted to
have the event at Africa Unit Square.
Nyathi said after a consultative process with conveners and
stakeholders, they agreed to shift the venue to an open space next to the
Harare Showgrounds, commonly known as Freedom Square, and they were given the
greenlight.
“Only late last night (Tuesday), they cancelled their
public meeting for reasons known to them. The police are in possession of the
letter. Only today (yesterday) in the morning, people gathered at Harvest House
and, in the process, were told by the police that they should disperse because
there was no notification,” he said.
“Police tried to negotiate with the people, but they
refused and were toyi-toying. As the police tried to disperse them, they stoned
the officers and injured one policeman.”
Nyathi said the police were open to investigate allegations
that they assaulted journalists and ran amok beating people indiscriminately
around town.
“Those who have information on this, we urge them to go and
report to the officer commanding Harare province so that we can investigate the
conduct of our police. I also encourage the journalist to report the assault to
the police,” he said. Newsday
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