Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi has called on the ZANU PF-led government to stop the “needless” deployment of the country’s military ahead of the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, scheduled to be held on August 17, 2024, in Harare.
Mkwananzi’s statement comes in response to reports of soldiers and police personnel moving through parts of Chitungwiza on Wednesday in convoys, with the soldiers dressed in full military gear and the police armed with water cannons, batons, and firearms.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mkwananzi described this deployment as an attempt to intimidate citizens and deter them from exercising their rights. Said Mkwananzi:
On the back of the SADC Summit, we witness once again the needless deployment and display of our military, presumably as a means of intimidation against and a reminder to citizens of the past atrocities and a subtle threat that the same can be repeated when Citizens hold their peaceful protests in the presence of SADC leaders, vaenzi, as George Charamba sarcastically refers to them in a way reminiscent of how our parents, especially our mothers would reprimand us in front of “vaenzi”.
In our view and indeed as per the law, there are procedures and circumstances where the military can be deployed and obviously all those procedures and statutes have not been followed as has become the norm in Zimbabwe.
We implore the authorities that be to please stop abusing our military and to return them to the barracks as there is no serious internal or external threat that warrants the brandishing of our military.
Mkwananzi said the party will soon notify the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) about their intentions to organize a public march, in accordance with the law.
This announcement comes as the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) has affirmed the right of citizens to demonstrate during international events like the upcoming SADC Summit.
In a statement issued on August 9, 2024, the ZCBC condemned the “resurgence of ugly vices” such as torture, abductions, and “wanton arrests of citizens under frivolous charges” in the lead-up to the SADC summit.
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