ZANU PF has accused opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa of provoking its supporters to attack him and his team by “trying to impose his views and trying to address disinterested Zanu PF supporters” in Masvingo on Monday.
Chamisa and his team were attacked again yesterday by
ruling party supporters, who barricaded roads to deny his convoy access to a
local village.
It is alleged that the ruling party supporters, who were
chanting slogans, were accompanied by the police.
Addressing a Press conference in Harare, Zanu PF acting
commissar Patrick Chinamasa said Chamisa, who is currently undertaking
community interface meetings around the country as he mobilises support ahead
of the 2023 elections, was entirely to blame.
“What I heard happened in Masvingo was that the opposition
leader wanted to force himself on an audience which did not want to listen to
him,” Chinamasa said.
“He had no right to force people to listen to him. He had a
right to address people but only those who were willing to be addressed by
him.”
A group of about 200 Zanu PF supporters brandishing
placards denouncing Chamisa for the sanctions imposed by the West on the
country pounced on the opposition leaders, damaging cars and injuring five
opposition supporters.
Zanu PF initially claimed the protest was stage-managed.
But Chinamasa yesterday said the villagers were angered
because a “madman” wanted to address them.
“In this case, my information is that the villagers did not
want to be addressed by him for obvious reasons. If you listen to a madman, you
become part of his cast, you will be portrayed as part of his cast, he will
then go ahead and say, I have lots of support, which he does not have.
“So our Zanu PF people have a right to say, we don’t want
you to address us, we don’t want to, it’s my right, but if you force me to
listen to you, I have reason to be angry.”
Chinamasa did not, however, explain why the police
teargassed Chamisa at a private residence, how the villagers acquired the
neatly printed placards or what they were doing, uninvited, at MDC Alliance
gatherings.
He also claimed that Chamisa and his entourage fired guns
into the air to try and scare away Zanu PF supporters.
“I hear the opposition leader and his bodyguards fired
shots in the air,” Chinamasa said.
“You know the last time we heard shots in the air was
during the liberation struggle, now if there is anything that can agitate
people and make them angry, is trying to demonstrate your power through firing
a gun.
“You must expect the consequences; you are basically asking
people to defend themselves.”
Chinamasa also claimed some non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) were receiving funding from the West to topple the government and the
party will soon be issuing a directive to party supporters to shun them.
“So, we will be writing a directive mentioning the NGOs
that are proxies of countries wanting to topple the Zanu PF government,”
Chinamasa said.
“We will tell our supporters, don’t have anything to do
with those people, don’t associate with those people, they are no good, they
are going to bring misery to you.”
Before Chinamasa’s Press conference, Zanu PF supporters
vented their anger through social media.
“The villagers who demonstrated against @nelsonchamisa in
Masvingo did so within the confines of the law.
Chamisa represents a violent organisation which called for sanctions.
Villagers were not violent. Chamisa is not immune from demos,” wrote Zanu PF
Patriots on Twitter.
Information Ministry secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana and Zanu
PF director of information Tafadzwa Mugwadi thanked the people of Masvingo for
attacking and blocking Chamisa’s convoy.
They accused the MDC Alliance of stage-managing the attacks
in order to draw the attention of the United Nations Special Rapporteur Alena
Douhan who is scheduled to visit Zimbabwe to assess the impact of sanctions on
the country from October 18 to 28.
“We are in the event of #COP26 and the special rapporteurs’
engagement is about to happen. Do you know what else has started? The Dramas,”
Mangwana tweeted. “We are tired of the @mdczimbabwe provocations aimed at
setting the agenda and stage for the coming UN Rapporteur on sanctions…,”
Mugwadi also tweeted.
Yesterday, the MDC Alliance tweeted: “Excessive roadblocks
have been mounted in Masvingo following the arrival of president Chamisa.
Police Zimbabwe are conducting illegal stop and search operations. They say
they are looking for weapons.”
In a statement, MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere
said the arrival of Chamisa in Masvingo province saw ruling party supporters
turn the area into a warzone.
“This political violence is unconstitutional; it violates
our political rights enshrined in section 67 of the Constitution, and causes
extreme concern,” Mahere said. Newsday
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