Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Wednesday morning violently disperse opposition MDC supporters who had gathered outside the party’s Head Quarters for an address by their leader Nelson Chamisa in what was dubbed the Hope of the Nation Address (HONA)
The police had earlier denied the youthful leader access to Africa Unity square to address his supporters citing possible infiltration by hopeless citizens.
However, Chamisa and his leadership sought to address the gathering at the offices, which by as early as 9am, had been sealed off by heavily armed police officers.
When Xhanmisa arrived to address the small gathering of visibly excited people, the police violently moved in and beat up the supporters,.
Several people were injured while one journalist sustained head injuries.
Chamisa spokesperson, Nkululeko Sibanda condemned the assault saying this has pushed Zimbabwe into a pariah state and blamed the police for being partisan.
“The MDC is a large movement and cannot be banned by another political party
“We are ashamed that Emmerson Mnangagwa used the military and police the way he did this morning but that is not going to change or give him legitimacy.
“It is not going to stop the MDC from moving forward with its program, the president remains committed to the struggle of the people and he will address the nation as he intends to,” he said.
“We did everything we could to make sure the police were aware we were going to have this event. We had hours-long meetings with authorities and we do not know what authority they are operating under, whether POSA or the new law,” Sibanda added.
Chamisa’s address was meant to give hope to the millions of suffering citizens.
However, Sibabanda said thee latest action proves that the Mnangagwa regime is not sincere in addressing the economy but were on a mission to destroy it.
“They are destroying the economy by these irresponsible activities after this day. We have tried to address a meeting in this country and this authoritarian state agrees us to do so under their terms and places they have designated and that is inappropriate,” added Sibanda.
