RIOT police armed with assault rifles and water cannons had
to be called in yesterday when violence broke out at Rainbow Hotel in Bulawayo
during hearings conducted by the commission of inquiry investigating the
post-election shootings that occurred in Harare on August 1.
Former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, who
chairs the commission of inquiry into the August 1 shooting by the military,
and his team were forced to leave the venue through the back door as tempers
flared, forcing police officers at the meeting to call for reinforcements.
Several people were arrested following the skirmishes
during which chairs were thrown at the commissioners. This was after one of a
witness, Taurai Kundishaya, had apportioned blame for the killings on the
opposition MDC Alliance.
Kundishaya, who claimed to have been a taxi driver in
Harare, but resides in Bulawayo and witnessed the August 1 shootings, was
adamant that the MDC Alliance was responsible for the violence.
“I was at the Rainbow Towers on the day and I heard people
singing that (MDC Alliance leader Nelson) Chamisa was their president and had
won the elections. I saw about 50 people approaching the (Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission) command centre, armed with stones. I knew something could happen
because if MDC youths had stones, the situation would have gone bad,” he said.
Kundishaya was booed off and threatened with assault,
resulting in a near 30-minute stoppage of proceedings.
Some people in attendance questioned why the commission was
investigating Harare killings in Bulawayo, arguing this was an
attention-seeking stunt by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime.
They said the inquiry was a waste of time since soldiers
were caught on camera spraying bullets on fleeing civilians.
Some activists questioned why government was keen to
investigate the August 1 killings during which about seven people were killed,
but had not done so with the 1980s Gukurahundi mass killings in Matabeleland
and Midlands provinces during which thousands of mainly Ndebele-speaking people
were murdered.
The activists demanded the release of the Chihambakwe
Commission of Inquiry report that contained findings of the Gukurahundi
atrocities that left some 20 000 civilians’ dead.
Mnangagwa appointed a seven-member commission chaired by
Motlanthe to investigate circumstances leading to the shooting of civilians by
the army on August 1 in Harare following the disputed July 30 harmonised
elections.
The commission has so far held hearings in Harare. It was
the first time that the commission was in Bulawayo, but participants at
yesterday’s hearings were not amused and accused the government of wasting
State resources by investigating Harare killings in the city.
Motlanthe, however, justified the visit to Bulawayo,
saying: “The commission, in its wisdom, decided to come to Bulawayo because
there is a possibility that some people in Matabeleland have been in Harare or
had relatives who were injured or killed on the day and would, therefore, want
to hear the circumstances of what happened, or you have suggestions and
recommendations as to how law enforcement agents must handle such situations.”
Newsday
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