THE opposition MDC Alliance says the on-going public
hearings by a commission probing post-election violence that left seven people
dead on August 1 is “a choreographed charade” meant to sanitise the actions of
the army and to protect President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
The army opened fire on civilians as part of a military
crackdown that followed the disputed July 30 presidential election won by
Mnangagwa — recalling the dark days under former President Robert Mugabe, who
was ousted in a coup in November last year.
The seven-member commission is led by former South African
President Kgalema Motlanthe, and is currently holding public hearings into the
shooting at a local hotel, but the witness stand has been stacked with mainly
Zanu PF supporters and officials while the composition of the commission itself
has been questioned.
“You can see with what is happening that (the commission)
is not aimed at producing justice, but a predetermined conclusion. That is why
Zanu PF supporters are making a beeline to go and try to cover up by blaming
the MDC Alliance, which does not control the military,” MDC Alliance leader Nelson
Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda told NewsDay.
“But then, an illegitimate president cannot undertake a
legitimate exercise.”
MDC Alliance spokesperson Jacob Mafume said the party would
not “sanitise the farce”, which “is nothing more than a cover up”.
“The whole exercise is a choreographed event meant to
provide a platform for Zanu PF supporters to shield the entire leadership of
the illegitimate regime from liability,” he said in a statement.
“It is clear the sham commission of inquiry has narrowed
down to investigate civilian activity when the actual issue is supposed to be
on how soldiers ended up in the streets, firing live ammunition at unarmed
civilians.
“We restate the point that there was no need to set an
inquiry into the conduct of the military if the State had complied with section
210 of the Constitution, which provides for the establishment of an independent
complaints mechanism against members of the security forces.”
Mafume said the MDC Alliance had reservations against the
commission, which has failed to summon the soldiers who killed the innocent
civilians.
But one of the commissioners, Lovemore Madhuku, yesterday
said the commission would summon the army to give evidence.
Mafume described the commission, appointed on August 29, as
unlawful because it was done without the consultation of the Cabinet, which was
not in place at the time, contrary to section 110(5) and section 110 of the
Constitution.
The MDC Alliance also has expressed reservations with the
appointment of University of Zimbabwe duo of Madhuku and Charity Manyeruke,
whom they accuse of being aligned to the ruling party.
The terms of reference of the commission did not provide
for the establishment of who called the army into the streets and gave the
soldiers the order to shoot.
He said the inquiry should have emphasised on the need to
establish who deployed the soldiers and if due process was followed in the
deployment.
“In our view, the police who have already said they are
investigating the violence and have, in any case, arrested scores of people,
were simply supposed to be empowered to investigate even the soldiers,” Mafume
said.
“The terms of reference of the commission are wrong,
misdirected and a wild goose chase sadly funded by taxpayers’ money. The
rightful terms of reference must hold accountable those behind the trigger.”
Following the shootings, police initially said they had
requested for help from the army, as it was constrained, with police officers
occupied with election business countrywide.
Foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo‚ a retired general‚ however,
later told journalists that the shootings were carried out by rogue elements of
the military that took to the streets and not members of the army.
The shootings by the soldiers and their beating of unarmed
protesters set back Mnangagwa’s efforts to shed Zimbabwe’s pariah status after
decades of repression under Mugabe. Newsday
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