Full Text: MDC Speaks Out Against Arrest Of ZCTU Leaders, Heavy Police Presence In Cities

The opposition MDC Alliance has spoken out against the heavy deployment of the police in the cities and the arrest of leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, who were arrested after organising a protest.  We publish the statement below in full:

MDC deplores heavy police deployment in cities

The MDC notes with alarm the unwarranted heavy deployment of police in the streets of Harare and other cities. The apparent “securocratisation” of the state by the illegitimate Zanu PF Government is a clear antithesis of democracy and testimony of the regime’s continued ruling without the popular will of the majority of Zimbabweans.

We strongly condemn the brutal attack and subsequent unwarranted arrest of the ZCTU leadership, its President Mutasa and the Secretary General Mr Japhet Moyo. This is a flagrant violation of section 59 of the labour rights as enshrined in our national constitution. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of these esteemed fighters for democracy and peoples’ rights. We again appeal to the regional and international bodies to condemn such continued acts of blatant violations of the people’s fundamental rights by the Zanu PF regime.

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The heavy police deployment in the cities are not only an affront to democracy but a serious indictment of the people’s fundamental freedoms of association and expression. That the illegitimate Zanu PF government is inherently in a state of panic is no longer just a political rhetoric but a true reflection of a regime surviving on borrowed times as it grapples to contain the growing popular resentment and disillusionment with the state of affairs by the people of Zimbabwe. It has come all too clear that the regime is clueless on how to solve the current economic catastrophe and is now resorting to brutal repression of discerning voices of the critical mass.

The MDC unequivocally condemns such heavy handedness and calls on the regime to demobilize the security forces from the streets to allow people free movement as they go about their business. We are deeply disenchanted by the regime’s continued harassment of the citizens at a time they are struggling to survive another day in the face of the unprecedented economic malaise instigated by Zanu PF’s scotch earthed polices.

As a party we unflinchingly recognize that at the epicenter of the crisis in Zimbabwe are issues around governance, abuse of power and corruption which is the Zanu PF DNA. To this end the MDC places emphasis on stabilizing the economic fundamentals through a concerted double edged programme of inflation targeting and exchange control stability not as end in its self but as a prerequisite to stimulating economic growth, provide jobs and bring back food on our shelves at affordable prices. The MDC SMART policy document is very clear on its road map to the economic recovery of Zimbabwe.

Above all the MDC has a humble leadership driven by love, tolerance, respect, national integration, solidarity and accountability.

Jacob Mafume
MDC National Spokesperson