Soldiers, police deployed in rural areas to instill fear among villagers

SOLDIERS and police were reportedly deployed in rural Chiendambuya in Makoni North where they were allegedly instilling fear among villagers following an application by the MDC-T to stage an anti-President Robert Mugabe demonstration yesterday.

This followed a recent demonstration by MDC-T supporters who defied a police ban to protest.

The MDC-T had applied to hold another demonstration but before the opposition party got a response from the police, truckloads of soldiers and law enforcement agents in uniform and plain clothes reportedly descended in the area on Wednesday threatening to thwart the protest.

Aspiring MDC-T MP for the area David Tekeshe told NewsDay yesterday that although there was calm in the area, the soldiers had walked around Thursday night harassing suspected opposition supporters.

"We had applied to have a demonstration here but we are surprised soldiers have been deployed together with both uniformed and plain-clothed police officers," he said.

"We applied on Monday to have a demo on Friday (yesterday). This also happened two weeks ago. They sent soldiers on Friday last week and threatened to beat up people and this has also affected businesses. Over 30 soldiers are in uniform."

Last week, the opposition also planned to hold another demonstration, but were blocked from going ahead.

MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that there was a planned demonstration, but could not immediately confirm the presence of army officers in the area.

Tekeshe led another demonstration in August where more than 200 placard-waving supporters marched at Chiendambuya Growth Point, demanding Mugabe's resignation accusing him of mismanaging the economy.

The MDC-T has planned a series of demonstrations at different centres to protest Mugabe's failure to address a myriad of economic challenges facing the country.