POLITICAL tempers flared again yesterday after police
blocked opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s “thank you” campaign
rally scheduled for Kwekwe this weekend, with the latter’s supporters
threatening to defy the ban.
Chamisa, who still insists he won the July 30 presidential
poll against incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, had intended to go back to
his supporters to thank them for “overwhelmingly voting him as president”.
His supporters yesterday vowed to defy the police ban and
proceed with the rally, arguing that they viewed the blockade as a clampdown on
the country’s democratic space.
This came a month after MDC Alliance activists engaged in
fierce running battles with the police in Harare, culminating in the fatal
shooting of seven people after soldiers intervened and fired live rounds into
the city’s crowded streets.
In a written response to the MDC-T Kwekwe district
chairperson Charles Madhihwa, Kwekwe police said the planned rally could not
proceed because of a typhoid outbreak which has hit the nearby Midlands
capital, Gweru.
“There has been a typhoid outbreak in the province.
Health officials are not allowing the public gathering,”
Kwekwe police boss Chief Superintendent Conrad Mubaiwa said.
But MDC Alliance’s Mbizo constituency MP-elect, Settlement
Chikwinya, who was involved in organising the rally, told NewsDay that the ban
was a rude awakening to Zimbabweans that the Zanu PF-led government was not
ready to depart from its past.
He warned that the opposition party would not take the
directive lying down.
“The blocking of the rally, which is ostensibly sheltered
as a health safety measure, is actually a closure of political space by a
regime that knows the general public sentiment following the grand theft of the
July 30 presidential elections,” Chikwinya said.
“The police are trying to block the people from meeting
their leader and speaking to him.”
Chikwinya said the party had made a resolution to proceed
with the rally despite the ban, saying they had made their own inquisition with
Kwekwe district medical officer, Patricia Mapanda, who denied knowledge of the
health alert.
“We view the decision by the police to be purely political
and partisan and, for that reason, we have resolved to go ahead with the rally
and ignore the ban,” he said.
“I have also spoken to president Chamisa, who indicated
that they will approach the High Court to fight the ban.”
A State security agent who preferred anonymity said there
were fears that Chamisa could rally his supporters to protest against the
government and there were attempts to contain the wave.
“The general feeling is that the rallies could be used to
galvanise violent protests, the kind that rocked Harare on August 1.
So the move is to ensure that the rallies don’t happen,”
the source said.
Chamisa has lined up countrywide “thank you” rallies, where
he will also use as platforms to get feedback from his supporters on the way
forward following the alleged theft of his victory by the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission and Zanu PF, in favour of Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa has also lined up his own “thank you” rallies,
expected to kick off when he returns from the Beijing summit on China-Africa
Co-operation, which ends mid-next week.
The Zanu PF leader is expected to leave for the summit
today after officially opening this year’s edition of the Harare Agricultural
show. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment