MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa was on Monday blocked from hosting a charity event for the elderly and people with disabilities in Hatfield, Harare, by heavily-armed riot police.
The opposition party usually hosts an end of year get-together just before Christmas where it donates various goodies to the needy in society.
MDC Alliance’s deputy national spokesperson Ostallos Siziba condemned the police for treating the party as if it were a banned political organisation. Said Siziba:
We were supposed to give charity goods to old people here in Hatfield as per tradition, in the democratic movement as we conclude the year we give back to communities and our program was disrupted by members of the police.
We had notified the police as per the law enforcement protocols and order in this country, but we were banned.
So, to them, the MDC is a banned organisation that cannot exercise the freedom to gather and assemble as prescribed by the constitution of this country.
… We have been disrupted but we continue with our program and we will advise our people on how we are going to move.
In a video circulating on social media platforms, an elderly woman walking with the aid of a walking stick castigates the police for disrupting the event. She is heard shouting:
What kind of people are you? Do you think you are wise? Your behaviour is unacceptable. Why do you block us from accessing food handouts as if the food is coming from your homes? You are being paid by the President, does the President know me?