Government will not brook unlawful demonstrations as law
enforcement agents stand ready to resolutely safeguard the peace and
tranquillity that currently exists in the country, Home Affairs and Culture
Heritage Minister Cain Mathema has said.
His remarks come in the wake of MDC’s announcement that it
will be staging protests on Friday to put pressure on the current political
administration.
Police has since advised that they are still considering
the notice by the MDC before announcing its position.
Minister Mathema told The Sunday Mail that while Government
fully recognises people’s Constitutional right to demonstrate, lawlessness
would not be tolerated.
“We have heard of the call for demonstrations by the MDC on
the 16th of August and our position is that we do not disallow legal and
Constitutional demonstrations.
“Demonstrations must be in line with the Constitution and
in line with other laws of Zimbabwe,” he said.
“My job is to preside over law and order; anything that
does not follow law and order, we will not accept and our law enforcement will
deal with it accordingly.”
Demonstrations, Minister Mathema said, must not affect
other law-abiding citizens who seek to go about their normal business.
“The space in Zimbabwe belongs to all of us, which is why
we have to regulate who is demonstrating along which path and how this will
affect the business of everyone else.
“We will not allow demonstrations that impinge upon the
rights of others.”
Previous demonstrations by the MDC and its allies have led
to fatalities and wanton destruction of property, particularly on August 1 last
year and January this year.
Of late, MDC figures, including the party’s vice
chairperson, Job Sikhala, have been intimating that demonstrations should lead to
the transfer of power or power-sharing negotiations with Government. In its
petition to the police, the MDC indicates that the demonstration has been
occasioned by the “legitimacy crisis”.
However, last year the Constitutional Court dismissed
Nelson Chamisa’s election petition challenging the results of the Presidential
elections.
Election observer missions, which included the EU and the
Americans for the first time in over 16 years, also did not see any anomalies
that could change the will of the electorate.
Minister Mathema said: “President Mnangagwa was
legitimately elected and we even had a record number of foreign observer
missions which came here. After the results were announced, the opposition went
to the courts to challenge that decision. We did not force them to court,
neither did we force them to go for the election.
“The courts gave a final decision on the matter, which
meant that President Mnangagwa’s legitimacy cannot be contested in any way.
“We cannot fold our hands if people make such serious
threats. We will not allow them to abuse their freedom of expression or freedom
to hold demonstrations.
“We know that the MDC has a history of being violent during
elections. They have to be careful in their call for demonstrations.”
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said it will issue an
official response.
“The ZRP acknowledges receipt of MDC-A notification on the
intended demonstration on 16 August 2019. However, the police reiterates that
considerations are still being made on the notification and the official
response is yet to be given to the concerned convener,” it said in a statement.
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU)
secretary-general Mr Kenias Shamuyarira urged workers to shun the MDC’s call
for demonstrations as the move had nothing to do with their welfare.
“Workers must not be part of such protests which have
nothing to do with labour issues. We urge all companies and businesses to come
to work as usual because this is not a labour issue and it may further affect
production.
“As workers, we now have the Tripartite Negotiation Forum,
which was recently legislated and provides a comprehensive framework for all
workers grievances to be discussed.”
Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWA)
chairperson Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa said the MDC protests are a part
of Mr Nelson Chamisa’s misguided ambitions to usurp State power.
“Why on earth would a proud national resort to an uprising
against their own State apparatus? Such wayward thinking is the hare-brain wish
of the political day-dreamer that is Chamisa and his political greenhorns. Their
folly arises from conflating the political party Zanu-PF and the State. To have
an attitude against a party should not, of the misplaced necessity, lead to the
treacherous conduct of challenging the Zimbabwe State. Such an act is the realm
of treason.
“The second fallacy is that uprisings can be prompted by an
on-off electrical switch of the indigent ambition of young Chamisa.
‘‘He is either too lazy or too scared to read about the
long road travelled by President Emmerson and his generation to power. They
took extraordinary risks of which Chamisa plainly avoids even as he craves
power so much. Will he place his own life on the line for the cause of personal
political power he pontificates about?” Sunday Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment