The police have today proscribed Agenda 2020, a key event
for the party that was scheduled for tomorrow in Mbare, Harare, citing flimsy
excuses that the event cannot proceed because the police are busy with the
schools that are opening this week, as if the police have anything to do with
opening of schools.
Tomorrow’s event was scheduled to be addressed by the party
leadership. We are noting a disturbing trend where the police are routinely
proscribing MDC events and treating the party as a banned organization in the
country.
Starting with our scheduled peaceful and constitutional
public protests in the various cities that were brutally quelled by the police
in August last year, as well as President Nelson Chamisa’s Hope of the Nation Address that was violently proscribed on 20 November 2019, we have noted a very
disturbing trend where the police are banning legitimate and constitutional
activities by the party.
In each of these instances, we had complied with the law
and given the police due notification but we continue to be treated like a
banned or a terrorist organization when we are a legitimate political party
that is in Parliament and that controls 28 out of 32 urban local authorities.
The police have periodically abused our compliance with the
law and as a party, we are reviewing whether under the current circumstances,
we should continue to co-operate with unjust laws and unjust requirements.
We have had enough. The MDC national leadership has met today and as a mark of
responsible leadership has said no to confrontation and is having to stop the
people who were ready to attend the event in Mbare tomorrow.
For fear of their lives against this brutal dictatorship,
and given what this regime has done before, we have decided to postpone the
Agenda 2020 event to next week on Tuesday at a venue to be announced.
But this does not mean that we are complying with
dictatorship. We have given the regime due notice of all our constitutional
activities and they have denied us the chance to exercise our democratic
rights.
for the year, including its programme of action as well as
the party’s programme of activities for the year.
We have postponed the event because the regime was
budgeting for a clash, for blood and for violence and as a party we will not
sacrifice the lives of innocent Zimbabweans.
I reiterate that we are reviewing the position of whether
we should continue to comply and co-operate with unjust laws and unjust
requirements that are inimical to democracy.
We have postponed our event because we do not want any
sideshow. We want to give Zimbabweans a chance to hear the party’s calendar of
critical path targets for the year that will address the key challenges
affecting the ordinary people as well as the party’s plan to rescue the nation
out of the current morass.
Luke Tamborinyoka
Deputy National Spokesperson
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