Chaos in Harare as police tear gas MDC-T HQ
By Nkululeko Sibanda
HARARE – Police turned central Harare into a mini-battlefield yesterday afternoon after descending on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Harvest House headquarters, attacking the party’s security officials and nearby vendors.
This comes as police at the weekend banned two rallies Tsvangirai intended to address in Binga and Lupane areas of Matabeleland North province, forcing the party to consider seeking redress from Sadc.
The mayhem yesterday came hours after South African officials appointed by Sadc to mediate in Zimbabwe arrived in the country to intensify negotiations amid signs of a return to instability.
About three dozen policemen wielding baton sticks fought running battles with vendors near Harvest House some of whom were selling MDC merchandise before turning on unsuspecting passers-by.
Late afternoon shoppers and workers from shops close to Harvest House had to scurry for cover as police details indiscriminately fired teargas canisters at the crowds, forcing a temporary shutdown of the city centre area near the MDC offices. Banks, supermarkets, pharmacies and furniture shops closed shop, while customers were trapped inside the stores as the police showed no mercy.
In a police against the people script, the Daily News correspondent witnessed as police harassed anyone seen within the vicinity of the MDC offices whose access roads they had cordoned off. Trouble started when a truckload of police officers brandishing baton sticks and canisters pulled to a screeching halt at the MDC headquarters along Nelson Mandela Avenue at about 1505 hours.
The police details immediately blocked traffic passing through the party’s offices. They then proceeded to assault street vendors who were selling different wares on the pavements along the MDC offices, forcing them to scurry for cover. Some of the targeted vendors trade in MDC regalia and party music CDs and DVDs.
Several of the vendors fell unconscious as a result of the tear smoke and had to be helped regain consciousness by passers-by. MDC security details stationed at the headquarters accused “zealous” police details for torching off the skirmishes.
“Some riot police officers came to the MDC offices in the afternoon. They clashed with some vendors selling different wares close to the MDC headquarters. They then tried to gain entrance into the MDC offices but changed tact and again started assaulting some vendors selling MDC compact discs,” said one eyewitness.
The compact disc vendors are reported to have reacted angrily at the move by the police, resulting in running battles between the two groups. A number of windscreens and windows of vehicles parked in the vicinity of the MDC headquarters were smashed as vendors unleashed stones at the police officers who had earlier assaulted them.
When the Daily News arrived at the scene of the clashes, owners of some of the vehicles were standing helplessly on the pavement, assessing damage to their vehicles. Police were still pouncing on shoppers and workers. Police details cordoned off part of Harare’s First Street, closing shops in the process.
Some employees at some shops had to use backstreet alleys to make good their escape from the marauding police officers and choking teargas. MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora blamed the police for torching off the chaos and violence.
“We understand police officers got to Harvest House intending to apprehend some vendors or chase them away from the office. They then claimed that they were looking for Washington Gaga, one of our security department officials but did not disclose why they were looking for him.”
They then changed again and claimed they wanted to ‘rescue’ some plainclothes police officers who had been deployed to Harvest House, but it was not clear whom they wanted to rescue them from,” said Mwonzora. The MDC, he said, viewed the move by the police as part of a campaign to instil fear in the party’s supporters ahead of elections to be held possibly next year.
“There is no justification why police would simply cordon off the Harvest House offices without proper explanation,” said Mwonzora. Efforts to contact acting police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka proved fruitless as his mobile phone was switched off. Another police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri was also unreachable on his phone.
State broadcaster ZBC quoted Harare police spokesman Inspector James Sabau as saying the armed police details attacked Harvest House to arrest vendors selling pirated MDC music CDs. To visit the Daily News website click here
