A GROUP of MDC supporters on Saturday assaulted Justice
minister Ziyambi Ziyambi during a Chegutu ward 2 by-election, the Daily News
can report.
According to Ziyambi, he went to a polling station to meet
a Zanu PF polling agent, but rowdy MDC supporters confronted him and attempted
to block his way before they hurled obscenities at the Zanu PF Mashonaland West
provincial chairperson.
“Pano hapana minister. Uri kuendakupi iwe? Ibvaapo (There
is no minister here? Where are you going? Leave this place now),” the MDC
supporters shouted at Ziyambi, charging towards him. Ziyambi had to be
whisked away to safety by his aides.
“I went to that certain polling station to meet our polling
agent. When I arrived, I greeted the opposition supporters and kindly asked
them to excuse us so that I could speak to our polling agent,” Ziyambi told the
Daily News in an interview yesterday.
Ziyambi warned the opposition against political violence,
adding that after the attack the MDC supporters went on social media to
discredit him by claiming he had visit the polling station intending to speak
to the presiding officer.
“They were blocking me from talking to our polling agent.
After that they have gone on social media and started to spread a false
narration that I was trying to speak to the presiding officer, which is totally
hogwash.
“Their behaviour is not good; they have become a law unto
themselves. I went to the polling station to see our polling agent in my role
as Zanu PF chairman. Am I not allowed to see my polling agent? They are abusing
social media, spreading false information. Democracy is not about attacking
people, this violent behaviour must stop. I have since instructed those who
were posting on social media to retract, failure to do that I will take legal
action.”
Information ministry permanent secretary Nick Mangawana
condemned the attack on Ziyambi.
“We hadn’t witnessed electoral violence in Zimbabwe in a
while until yesterday in Chegutu when Hon Ziyambi, who is also Zanu PF Mash
West chair, came face to face with aggression and aggravation from rowdy
members of the opposition just for speaking to his party election agent. Why?,”
Mangwana wrote on his Twitter account yesterday.
Contacted for comment, MDC secretary for elections Jacob
Mafume said the supporters were questioning why Ziyambi came near the polling
station without Zimbabwe Electoral Commission accreditation.
“He was not assaulted at all. There was a vigorous discussion
on why he was in the polling station without accreditation. The rule states
that Ziyambi should have been 300m away from the polling station without
accreditation. So, he (Ziyambi) was leading the assault on the election
process,” Mafume said.
Ironically, the MDC has been accusing Zanu PF of using
State machinery to intimidate and beat people in previous elections.
This comes as the opposition is pushing for electoral
reforms and they have written to the United Nations Electoral Needs Assessment
Mission, which was recently in the country, to push the government to implement
electoral reforms.
There has been accusations and counteraccusations of
political violence between Zanu PF and the MDC since the formation of the
opposition in 1999 and the leadership of trade unionist, the late Morgan
Tsvangirai. Daily News
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