The alleged firing of live ammunition in the direction of MDC leader Nelson Chamisa by police over the weekend has possibly killed any momentum that has been gathering towards national dialogue, a political analyst contends.
Eldred Masunungure, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, told the Daily News that the incident could have been an attempt to scuttle progress by those retrogressive forces bent on torpedoing talks between Chamisa and President Emerson Mnangagwa. He said:
Whichever way one looks at it, it killed the momentum that appeared to be rising regarding the talks about talks where various interlocutors, including the church and Sadc, had appeared to push hard for dialogue.
They will be disappointed with the development, especially if indeed live ammunition was used because it kills the re-engagement momentum.
Masunungure’s comments come after police banned Chamisa from planting trees at a school in Marondera on Sunday, as has become the “norm”, with countless MDC events banned on spurious grounds.
MDC officials were captured by cameras scurrying for cover after a gunshot cracked in the Marondera afternoon. The party claims that police fired live ammunition at the MDC officials in an attempt to stop the tree-planting event.