The MRP wanted to take to the streets to protest the
persecution of its members by State security agents.
“Police did not only ban the march, but as per their
culture of handling MRP matters, they also deployed heavily armed police
officers in anti-riot gear … prompting the party’s security department to
advise the defiant Bulawayo provincial leadership and members led by chairperson
Bioz Makhalima to call off the march in order to ensure the security of
members,” the MRP said in a statement.
“The people’s party leadership felt that it was not
strategic and, therefore, unnecessary to let members of the party get arrested
and brutalised at a time when others are already languishing in remand at Khami
Prison for no apparent reason.”
Currently, nine MRP activists are caged at Khami Remand
Prison following their arrest for participating in a flash demonstration
outside the Bulawayo Central Police Station early last
month.
A Bulawayo magistrate last Friday shot down the activists’
application for bail, insisting that the State had a strong case against them. Newsday
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