News / National
Zanu-PF says MDC-T grandstanding ahead of summit
02 Jun 2011 at 19:31hrs | Views
THE recent murder of a police inspector in Glen View in Harare this week by suspected MDC-T hooligans is part of the party's gra-nd plans to create scenes of violence ahead of major summits, Zanu-PF has said.
An extraordinary session of Sadc will convene on the sidelines of the Second Sadc-Comesa-EAC Summit in South Africa from the 11th to the 12th of this month.
The demise of Inspector Petros Mutedza was followed by the arrest of over 17 MDC-T supporters and among them, 10 were fingered as suspects in the murder.
The other seven were interrogated and released.
Zimbabwe will be discussed on the sidelines of the summit after the issue was deferred at the extraordinary summit in Windhoek, Namibia, last month.
Sadc facilitator, South African President Jacob Zuma failed to attend the Windhoek Summit because of the demands of local government elections that were underway in his country.
In an interview yesterday, Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity, Cde Rugare Gumbo, said Zanu-PF was aware that MDC-T was "obviously" going to create scenes for outsiders to perceive the country as ungovernable.
Cde Gumbo, however, said like previous futile efforts, the latest stunt was doomed to fail.
"It is always MDC-T's strategy to brew troubles before summits dealing with Zimbabwe as a way to paint a negative picture about the political situation in the country. The world knows MDC-T's shallow propaganda.
"The murder of inspector Mutedza once again highlights the violent nature of the MDC-T.
"The party's violent behaviour was demonstrated before, during and after its party congress in Bulawayo where factions of the party fought running battles against each other," Cde Gumbo said.
He urged law enforcement agents to pursue the perpetrators "of this heinous crime and to take stern measures to curb all forms of violent and disorderly conduct as we move towards harmonised elections this year."
Cde Gumbo reiterated that Zanu-PF wanted elections to be held this year without fail.
"As for the elections, we have always insisted that they will be held this year. They (MDC-T) can say whatever they want, but there will be no change.
"The only election roadmap we know is the one stipulated in the GPA and nothing will come from the Sadc (Summit) on that matter," he said.
Cde Gumbo said the Politburo yesterday was also briefed by its representative in Copac, Cde Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana on prog-ress in the constitution-making process.
He said they had also been updated on what transpired in Windhoek. He said Cde Mangwana assured them that the constitution making process was going to be completed on time (in September).
"Cde Mangwana explained that 75 percent of data analysis had already been done. He said some of the thematic committees are expected to finish this Friday while others will finish next week. He told us that the process is going to meet the September deadline," Cde Gumbo said.
Earlier in the day, MDC-T secretary general, Mr Tendai Biti tried to exonerate his party from its violent behaviour ahead of the crucial Sadc Summit next week.
Mr Biti told journalists at Harvest House that his party was not involved in the murder of Insp Mutedza, accusing the police of making pre-mature judgments.
He said investigations conducted by his party revealed that Insp Mutedza was involved in a fight with beerhall patrons at Glen View 3 Shopping Centre.
This is despite the fact that the youths donning MDC-T regalia were seen assaulting the late inspector and throwing stones at uniformed police officers at the seen of the incident.
He said his party expected the Sadc Summit to adopt a draft election roadmap agreed by negotiators of the three political parties and to endorse the resolutions of the Sadc Troika Summit held in Livingstone, Zambia.
"MDC expects Sadc to endorse the very important resolutions of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation that was held in Livingstone, Zambia on 31 March 2011.
"As part of the roadmap, we call upon the parties to undertake serious security sector reforms in view of the partisan behaviour of some of the security forces," he said.
However, the MDC-T's culture of violence is well documented and it is unlikely that Sadc would be swayed from its position by MDC-T's propaganda.
MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai mislead the Troika Summit in Livingstone on the situation in Zimbabwe.
He claimed that his party was a victim of state sponsored violence yet a detailed police report showed the opposite.
Mr Tsvangirai also claimed President Mugabe was incapacitated and that the army had taken over running the country.
However, Mr Tsvangirai was made to eat his words following shocking scenes of intra-party violence that claimed at least one life in the run-up to his party's third congress in Bulawayo.
An extraordinary session of Sadc will convene on the sidelines of the Second Sadc-Comesa-EAC Summit in South Africa from the 11th to the 12th of this month.
The demise of Inspector Petros Mutedza was followed by the arrest of over 17 MDC-T supporters and among them, 10 were fingered as suspects in the murder.
The other seven were interrogated and released.
Zimbabwe will be discussed on the sidelines of the summit after the issue was deferred at the extraordinary summit in Windhoek, Namibia, last month.
Sadc facilitator, South African President Jacob Zuma failed to attend the Windhoek Summit because of the demands of local government elections that were underway in his country.
In an interview yesterday, Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity, Cde Rugare Gumbo, said Zanu-PF was aware that MDC-T was "obviously" going to create scenes for outsiders to perceive the country as ungovernable.
Cde Gumbo, however, said like previous futile efforts, the latest stunt was doomed to fail.
"It is always MDC-T's strategy to brew troubles before summits dealing with Zimbabwe as a way to paint a negative picture about the political situation in the country. The world knows MDC-T's shallow propaganda.
"The murder of inspector Mutedza once again highlights the violent nature of the MDC-T.
"The party's violent behaviour was demonstrated before, during and after its party congress in Bulawayo where factions of the party fought running battles against each other," Cde Gumbo said.
He urged law enforcement agents to pursue the perpetrators "of this heinous crime and to take stern measures to curb all forms of violent and disorderly conduct as we move towards harmonised elections this year."
Cde Gumbo reiterated that Zanu-PF wanted elections to be held this year without fail.
"As for the elections, we have always insisted that they will be held this year. They (MDC-T) can say whatever they want, but there will be no change.
"The only election roadmap we know is the one stipulated in the GPA and nothing will come from the Sadc (Summit) on that matter," he said.
He said they had also been updated on what transpired in Windhoek. He said Cde Mangwana assured them that the constitution making process was going to be completed on time (in September).
"Cde Mangwana explained that 75 percent of data analysis had already been done. He said some of the thematic committees are expected to finish this Friday while others will finish next week. He told us that the process is going to meet the September deadline," Cde Gumbo said.
Earlier in the day, MDC-T secretary general, Mr Tendai Biti tried to exonerate his party from its violent behaviour ahead of the crucial Sadc Summit next week.
Mr Biti told journalists at Harvest House that his party was not involved in the murder of Insp Mutedza, accusing the police of making pre-mature judgments.
He said investigations conducted by his party revealed that Insp Mutedza was involved in a fight with beerhall patrons at Glen View 3 Shopping Centre.
This is despite the fact that the youths donning MDC-T regalia were seen assaulting the late inspector and throwing stones at uniformed police officers at the seen of the incident.
He said his party expected the Sadc Summit to adopt a draft election roadmap agreed by negotiators of the three political parties and to endorse the resolutions of the Sadc Troika Summit held in Livingstone, Zambia.
"MDC expects Sadc to endorse the very important resolutions of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation that was held in Livingstone, Zambia on 31 March 2011.
"As part of the roadmap, we call upon the parties to undertake serious security sector reforms in view of the partisan behaviour of some of the security forces," he said.
However, the MDC-T's culture of violence is well documented and it is unlikely that Sadc would be swayed from its position by MDC-T's propaganda.
MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai mislead the Troika Summit in Livingstone on the situation in Zimbabwe.
He claimed that his party was a victim of state sponsored violence yet a detailed police report showed the opposite.
Mr Tsvangirai also claimed President Mugabe was incapacitated and that the army had taken over running the country.
However, Mr Tsvangirai was made to eat his words following shocking scenes of intra-party violence that claimed at least one life in the run-up to his party's third congress in Bulawayo.
Source - TZN
