SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
On Wednesday morning 10 MDC-T youths were assaulted by a group of armed soldiers as they were putting up rally posters in the Harare suburb of Highfield, the party has announced.
A statement said Shepherd Mbewe, Sean Chindori and Sharodd Matamba, were also detained for over an hour at Zororo Centre where over 30 soldiers are holding training courses. The three were ‘badly assaulted’ and they have since reported the incident at Machipisa Police Station. The other seven youths managed to escape.
The rally, which is penciled in for this Saturday, has been cleared by the police and the party was granted permission to put up their posters.
The MDC-T councilor for Ward 26, Special Zuze, castigated the soldiers for their action. Zuze said the soldiers are ‘needlessly assaulting the public’ at a time when people must unite and confront the country’s economic problems. He added: ‘What the soldiers have done does not reflect a defence force with integrity or a force that wants to protect the people at all. It shows a defence force that lacks discipline and this has to end now'.
Zuze has also approached the Harare City Council’s department of housing seeking clarification on why the center, which also houses a pre-school, has been turned into a military training camp.
Robert Mugabe has always used the military to maintain his hold on power and numerous incidents have been reported about army units terrorizing defenceless people on behalf of the party. Senior army officers openly support the ruling party and routinely issue inflammatory statements and hate speech against the opposition.