CITIZENS Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa says President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is banning rallies by his party because it is sensing defeat in next year’s elections.
Police refused to sanction yet another rally by Chamisa,
which was scheduled for Chipinge yesterday claiming that CCC supporters
attacked Zanu PF members when they celebrated the party’s victory in the March
26 by-elections in the district.
Zanu PF’s Masvingo provincial executive was last night
frantically trying to stop a CCC rally to be addressed by Chamisa at Mucheke
Stadium, saying the law prohibits holding of political meetings at the venue.
The CCC leader yesterday said the move by the police showed
that Mnangagwa and Zanu PF were running scared ahead of the elections as the
opposition party was gaining momentum across the country.
“The CCC is the next government and our colleagues in Zanu
PF are running scared, and so afraid,” Chamisa said.
“They have resorted to desperate tactics and measures to
shut us out, particularly in the countryside.
“They have been banning our meetings.
“Our rallies have been banned and they are not happy to see
us visible in the communities.
“Despite the bans, people are supporting us.
“We are not new to the bans, but these bans are occasioned
by fear, and the phobia they have for the juggernaut called the CCC.
“The yellow movement has taken the whole country by storm.
They can’t manage it. We are beyond that.”
Chamisa added: “Our offices and headquarters are in the
minds and convictions of Zimbabweans. We are indomitable.
“We are unconquerable. They can try all sorts of tactics,
but those tactics won’t help them.”
CCC interim spokesperson Fadzai Mahere said the banning of
the Chipinge rally also brought into sharp focus biased policing in favour of
the ruling Zanu PF party amid concerns over the shrinking democratic space.
“This unconstitutional, paranoid conduct confirms that Zanu
PF is afraid of our visibility in communities like Chipinge so they’re abusing
institutions to silence us,” Mahere said.
Police recently banned CCC rallies scheduled for Gokwe,
Marondera, Glen Norah and Binga.
“We remain steadfast and will certainly host the rally but
at a later date. We are not shaken,” Mahere said.
“Zanu PF continues its streak of disrupting our meetings
and violating our right to assemble.”
Analysts expressed concern over the shrinking democratic
space a few months before the 2023 polls.
“The ban will give credence to claims that the state is
shrinking democratic space in Zimbabwe. In a normal democracy, parties are free
to carry out campaigns,” political analyst Methuseli Moyo told The Standard.
Another political analyst Kudakwashe Munemo said police
were selectively applying the law given the fact that Zanu PF was allowed to
meet without any restrictions.
“Political space is increasingly shrinking ahead of the
2023 harmonised elections; more technical reasons shall continue to be used to
selectively bar the freedom of assembly given that the ruling party’s processes
are ongoing,” Munemo said.
“It reflects that they are considered a huge threat to the
current establishment and may have to devise counter strategies in order to
carry out their activities.”
Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi yesterday denied charges
that the law enforcement agency was targeting CCC by disrupting its events and
rallies.
“Normally issues to do with notifications go to the officer
commanding district and when they sanction or not sanction these rallies they
are not mandated to tell us so,” Nyathi said.
“It’s not automatic that once they want to have a rally or
demonstration, it will be sanctioned.
On Friday, police banned a planned prayer rally in Harare
to protest the weaponisation of the law against human rights’ work organised by
the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiCZ).
The CiCZ wanted to petition Parliament and the Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission over the shrinking democratic space after the rally.
In an urgent High Court chamber application challenging the
ban, the CiCZ cited officer commanding Harare Central District, one Chief
Superintendent Moyo as the respondent.
It said the ban infringed on its rights that are
“guaranteed in the constitution of Zimbabwe.”
Mnangagwa is eyeing a second full term in next year’s
elections where he is set to face Chamisa, whom he narrowly beat in the
disputed 2018 elections.
An Afrobarometer survey in June showed that 33% of
respondents said they would vote for Chamisa against 30% for the Zanu PF
leader. Standard
0 comments:
Post a Comment