
The demonstrations saw lives lost and left a trail of
destruction. The notice was read by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi in the National Assembly in terms of Section 214 of
the Constitution.
Section 214 of the Constitution read: “When the Defence
Forces are deployed; (a) in Zimbabwe to assist in the maintenance of public
order; or (b) outside Zimbabwe; the President must cause Parliament
to be informed, promptly and in appropriate detail, of the reasons for their
deployment and;
(i) where they are deployed in Zimbabwe, the place where
they are deployed;
(ii) where they are deployed outside Zimbabwe, the country
in which they are deployed.
Minister Ziyambi said the deployment by the President who
is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was also made in
terms of the Public Order and Security Act.
“The Commissioner-General of Police having satisfied
himself of the riotous situation existing in all major cities and towns in
Zimbabwe and having satisfied himself that the riotous conduct had violated the
right to life, right to human dignity, right to personal security, right not to
be compelled to belong to an association, or to attend to a meeting or
gathering, right to freedom of movement, right to hold, occupy, use or dispose
of property, right to freedom of movement, right to education, right to
education, of ordinary citizens and residence as enshrined in the Constitution
and having satisfied that the conduct of riotous was criminal in nature and
recognised offences under the criminal justice system of the Republic of
Zimbabwe and having satisfied that the Zimbabwe Republic Police was unable to
contain the riotous situation as aforementioned which resulted in the loss of
life, brazen violation of basic human rights, personal security and destruction
of private and public property including police stations, the
Commissioner-General in terms of Section 37 (1) of the Public Order and
Security Act requested the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage to
use his discretion and request the Minister responsible for Defence to
authorise the Defence Forces to assist the police in the exercise of their
function in terms of the Act in order to suppress the violent, riotous and
destructive conduct that was occurring throughout the country which conduct was
undermining the rule of law and citizens’ rights as afore-stated,” read the
notice.
“The Minister of Defence following upon the request and
guided by Section 213 (1)(1)(b) of the Constitution which provides that only
the President as Commander-in-Chief of the ZDF has the power to authorise the
deployment of the Defence Forces in Zimbabwe to support the police service in
maintenance of public order.
“His Excellency having duly considered the request and
having applied his mind to the situation, authorised the deployment of Defence
Forces to suppress the riotous and destructive conduct that pervaded the
country.”
The August 1, 2018 illegal demonstrations were perpetrated
by MDC-Alliance claiming that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had delayed
announcing presidential results despite the fact ZEC was still within its
five-day threshold to announce the results. Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment