ZANU PF has said there is no proof that the people who were filmed assaulting some senior citizens for supporting the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in Murehwa Mashonaland East Province were members of the ruling party.
The attracted public outroar prompting the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to launch investigations.
ZANU PF Director for Information, Tafadzwa Mugwadi said there is no evidence to suggest that the assailants are members of the ruling ZANU PF. ZBC News quotes him as saying:
I condemn this conduct unreservedly. The culprits should be brought to justice. What I however find irresponsible is when desperate clueless political upstarts start to drive and wage misleading narratives that the perpetrators should be referred to as ZANU PF supporters.
This is needless and regrettable spin. Clearly, there is nothing in statements uttered or visuals shown which identifies the culprits as ZANU PF supporters. Remember CCC-MDC-T/ A Harvest House battles which were similarly blamed on ZANU PF yet it was their succession wars. To this day, they still have not taken responsibility over attempts to burn Dr Thokozane Khupe, Elias Mudzuri and Douglass Mwonzora at Tsvangirai’s funeral.
He called upon fellow members of the ruling party to pay heed to calls made by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on peaceful and violence-free elections. He added:
I advise my fellow politicians to desist from fronting politics at a crime scene no matter the temptation to grab headlines and attention. Let the perpetrators be treated as barbaric criminals who should be identified, arrested and rot in jail. On its part, ZANU PF does not tolerate any barbaric criminal conduct. Our philosophy of mobilisation is simple but powerful – ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’, which has become a national chorus.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has clearly and unequivocally set the record clear on peaceful and violence-free elections. Whoever commit acts of violence in name of the party shall carry his or her cross and account. Let the Zimbabwe Republic Police do what they know best – investigations.
CCC says the assailants are members of the ruling ZANU PF.
Zimbabwe is heading for general elections this year and observers say all political parties must come out clearly condemning all forms of violence.
Violence has been on the rise since late 2021 raising fears that this year’s elections might be bloody as the case was in 2008.