By Fungi Kwaramba
MDC vice president, Nelson Chamisa, pictured, has claimed that police were behind the ugly violence that rocked Zvishavane over the weekend, prior to his High Court-sanctioned rally.
The Kuwadzana legislator was supposed to address a rally in the town before violence and mayhem erupted after police faced off with MDC supporters.
Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Chamisa put the blame squarely on the law enforcement agents whom he said had developed a habit of flagrantly disregarding orders granted by the High Court.
“Police are guilty,” he said.
“There are using the law to stifle activities of opposition parties. They are abusing and misinterpreting the law and we are also worried by the way police are defying High Court orders,” Chamisa said.
“What will happen when the guard becomes a thief? Who will guard the guard?” he queried.
Police national spokesperson, Charity Charamba, was not immediately available for comment yesterday.
During the fracas, some MDC supporters were arrested while scores were badly injured.
Since the wave of protests swept across the country, as anger against President Robert Mugabe’s failed 36-year leadership boiled over, police have not only used the draconian Public and Order Security Act to quell the demonstrations, but also deployed heavy-handed methods to silence the demonstrators.
In some instances, police have gone as far as blatantly ignoring orders issued by the High Court — a case in point being the crackdown on demonstrators drawn from 18 political parties demonstrating under the National Electoral Reform Agenda (Nera) banner in August.
“The best route to deal with police officers who break the law is to take them to court. We would have spent a lot of money organising such events only for police to stop that. It is worrisome that people are arrested on trumped up charges,” said Chamisa adding that “Police should bear the cost of the losses that people endure”.
According to the MDC top official, on Sunday police indiscriminately fired teargas at people who were going about their daily businesses, including some who were attending church services.
“The police are very provocative and use overhand tactics to crush opposition parties. I also believe that some of the so-called police officers are not real officers. The way they conduct themselves leaves much to be desired and they should be investigated,” he said. Daily News