By Miriam Chirambasukwa
Since the country was ushered into a new political dispensation after the November 2017 military intervention, a lot of critical pieces of legislation have been aligned to the country’s Constitution which allows people to stage demonstrations, albeit in a peaceful manner.
In light of the recent protests, ‘peace’ is not a word that could be used to describe what took place. Innocent members of the public who had nothing to do with the demonstrations had their live put at risk as the protests turned violent, leaving a trail of destruction, as shops were looted and property destroyed. There was wanton destruction of property and looting of shops across all of the major cities of the country such as Harare, Chitungwiza, Bulawayo and Gweru. Security forces were also targeted with one police officer killed while many others were injured.
In Chitungwiza, for example, some rowdy groups over-ran a police station, threw petrol bombs in an attempt to subdue police officers who were manning the camp and wanted to gain access to the armoury. Makoni Vehicle Inspection Depot (VID) was also razed down, while several shops were looted of groceries and other merchandise. Roads were barricaded by hooligans demanding ransom from motorists before they could be allowed to pass and they were extorting cash ranging from $2, 00 to $5,00. Failure to pay by individual motorists resulted in their cars getting stoned or burnt. No one is writing about this lawlessness, as there is a concerted effort to shift the blame on security forces.
All peace loving people strongly condemn the involvement of any of its members in cases of violence or acts of lawlessness. We expect the MDC Alliance to condemn all forms of violence including that perpetrated by their own members. Promise Mkwananzi and his accomplices are actually reaffirming the MDC position of violence in his short video where he is saying, he is coordinating violence from his so called sanctuary. He is claiming success in the wanton destruction of property.
The destruction which characterised the demonstrations needed to be quelled using the appropriate force such as was applied by the security forces given the circumstances and the level of violence. In terms of section 213 (2) of the Constitution, the Army is deployed in support of the Police Service and other civilian authorities in the event of an emergency or disaster.
The level of violence that took place during the demonstrations left the ZRP with no other option but to invite the military. The military working together with the police swiftly moved in to quell the violence and restored sanity. It is unfortunate that some misguided elements now want to cast aspersions to the timely intervention by the Army to further their selfish political ends.
We expect the security forces to maintain presence to make sure everyone goes about their business peacefully. Any violent behaviour should be dealt with accordingly. It should also be known that use of violence will always be met with the appropriate force. As part of the security complex of Zimbabwe, it is expected that the security forces will not stand aside and watch helplessly while the country is allowed to smoulder into ashes at the hands of the unruly hooligan groups.
The intervention by the security forces came at a very critical time and helped save many Zimbabweans whose lives were threatened by these marauding groups. No amount of denigrating the army and the police will take away the fact that the security forces were instrumental in restoring normalcy to the relief of many business people and the ordinary Zimbabweans whose properties and lives hung in the balance following the outbreak of violence. Now people are going to work and should ignore any further calls for them to stay away. It is the people who suffer in all this matrix.
