By Mugove Tafirenyika
Zimbabwe’s main opposition has said security forces were abducting its members in night raids in a massive crackdown in the wake of the unrest sparked by a national strike.
At least 12 people have been killed in an army clampdown and hundreds wounded, in scenes reminiscent of the long rule of Robert Mugabe, when the security forces unfurled a high-handed crackdown after a national strike called by unions in response to a steep rise in fuel prices ordered by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The MDC has described a wave of abductions in and around Harare, including abduction and beating of Chitungwiza deputy mayor Jabulani Mtunzi. The party complained of masked soldiers abducting several MDC members in raids late at night and at dawn in the capital Harare and assaulted people in townships, echoing Mugabe-era tactics against opponents.
He said soldiers had also visited the homes of party youth leader Happymore Chidziva, but he was in hiding. Police cells across the city are “full to capacity”, packed with large numbers of MDC supporters.
“The MDC condemns the unrepentant persecution of senior leaders in various provinces. The fast tracked trial and conviction of Tonderai Samhu in Mashonaland Central is against the principles of natural justice.
He was sentenced to six years in prison on trumped up charges of barricading roads,” MDC spokesman Jacob Mafume said. He said denial of fair trials for citizens was a Constitutional violation.
“The party is also concerned by the abduction and subsequent dumping of the Deputy Mayor of Chitungwiza, Jabulani Mtunzi, a senior Provincial member, at Makoni Police station with a swollen face. If the state can abduct high profile individuals like him then the ordinary Zimbabweans may just as well be buried alive,” Mafume said.
He said evidence of soldiers terrorising people in the several neighborhoods continue to surface.
“Security forces continue to breach the conduct outlined in section 208 of the Constitution. We appeal to the international Community to scale up efforts to stop the killings of citizens. The MDC demands the urgent setting up of an independent complaints mechanism set out in section 210 of the Constitution.” DailyNews