Staff Reporter

Newly formed People’s Assembly Against Poverty (PAAP) is planning to stage demonstrations in the country, purportedly to render solidarity to the people of eSwatini and South Africa following violent protests that rocked the two African countries.

An impeccable source confided in this publication that PAAP had written to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) seeking permission to stage the solidarity demonstrations. However, the demonstrations, that were supposed to commence on 12 July 2021, were postponed due to some disagreements within PAAP leadership.

“PAAP is planning to stage demonstrations in the country purportedly to show solidarity with the people of South Africa and eSwatini following protests that occurred in those countries. However, the planned demonstrations are not about showing solidarity to anyone as they are a clandestine plan to cause chaos in the country. The organizers want to use the demonstrations to incite people to revolt against the Government,” said the source.

The source revealed that PAAP leadership is working in cahoots with the MDC Alliance and US Embassy in Harare to make the country and ungovernable and they want the demonstrations to the start in the capital before they cascade to other parts of the country.

“This time, the MDC Alliance does not want to be on the fore front of the demonstrations. They want PAAP to be the face of the demonstrations although the majority of the participants during the demonstrations would be the MDC Alliance members,” added the source.

According to the source, the demonstrations have been delayed as some members opined that the protests should be done online due to Covid 19 restrictions. However, others want the demonstrations to be staged physically to get international attention.

The source added that the coordination for the planned demonstrations was being done on a WhatsApp chat group that has 120 participants. Some of the people in that WhatsApp group are International Socialist Organisation (ISO) leader, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general, Raymond Majongwe, Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president, Obert Masaraure and former ZINASU members Ashlings Pfunye and Hopewell Gumbo among others.

Efforts to get a comment from Masaraure, the chief coordinator of the intended demonstrations, were futile as his mobile was not reachable.