Activist group names cop who fired live bullets during Saturday protests
By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
A civil rights outfit that has been helping mobilise protests against President Robert Mugabe’s government, #Tajamuka, claims it has established the name of the police officers who fired live bullets into the air during last Saturday’s suburban protests.
The demonstrations that took place in numerous suburbs throughout the country were planned by a consortium of political parties pushing for electoral reforms.
The opposition parties are rallying behind the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA).
Police descended heavily on the protests on Saturday, and gunshots were reportedly heard as the law enforcements agency’s anti-riot deployments were overwhelmed by citizen protesters.
In a statement on Tuesday, the #Tajamuka media team claimed that one Sergeant Kwashira from Epworth police station on the south-eastern outskirts of Harare fired the shots.
“Tajamuka/Sesjikile Campaign has established that Sergeant Kwashira from Epworth police station is responsible for live gunshots at Solani in Epworth during NERA demonstrations on 17 September 2016,” said #Tajamuka.
It could not be immediately established if, indeed, Kwashira is stationed at Epworth police station or had been deployed there during the demonstrations.
Police have denied that they used live ammunition to intimidate protesters last weekend as reported by the weekly Standard newspaper.
The newspaper, however, insisted that its report was factual.
“We wish to assure our readers and stakeholders that we verified the facts contained in our story and that our reporters were there on the ground collecting and recording information,” The Standard acting editor, Tangai Chipangura, said. Nehanda Radio
