'MDC has militant army deserters'

Commander of the Presidential Guard, Brigadier General Anselem Sanyatwe says the MDC Alliance has a militant wing that probably consists of army deserters and they were in action during the  August 1 post election violence.

Anselem Sanyatwe, who is also in charge of a unit called the National Reaction Force comprising police, ZDF & CIO that was deployed on August 1  was testifying in front of the Kgalema Motlanthe led Commission of Inquiry.

"The behaviour of these rioters was an indication of what we have all along received that the opposition have to an extent a militant organisation. Knowing the nature of Zimbabweans there is civilian who can throw stones at a military van and to make matters worse, an armoured personnel carrier and those soldiers armed with AK assault rifles." He said.

"Therefore these militant groups according to the intelligence that we have, are basically members who could have deserted from the army and other institutions because they were advancing and braving even warning shots in the air shouting 'Bata musoja'. That behaviour is a characteristic of a trained member of the society and not public civilian behaviour."

Earlier, Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga had testified that the the deployment of the Army was to make sure that  demonstrators do not run over the Rainbow Towers which accommodated the Elections  Command Centre, secondly the ZANU PF HQ which normally houses our ministers, the ZEC offices themselves where Justice Priscilla Chigumba was accommodated.