News / National
War vets accuse police, CIO
27 Jul 2017 at 06:48hrs | Views
WAR veterans have accused the police of undoing peace education activities in communities ravaged by political violence ahead of elections expected next year.
In a statement, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA) education secretary, Wilbert Sadomba said the former freedom fighters had embarked on a pilot project to campaign for peace ahead of the highly-anticipated elections.
"We had covered Mutoko, Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, Hwedza, Kadoma, Sanyati, Gokwe and Gweru with resounding success.
"ZNLWVA feels sad that there is an attempt to nip this initiative in the bud by the authorities. The pilot programme was stopped in Mashonaland East, when the group was subjected to questioning by members of the intelligence services," he said.
Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said she was unaware of the programme.
"I am not aware of such a programme and would need to check," she said.
Sadomba said the disruption of the war veterans' project was in spite of the fact that the "same organs of the State had been informed".
"There are reports that community leaders, who had been engaged were followed up by the Zimbabwe Republic Police and were similarly interrogated.
"The nation has heard hate speech, threats of violence against us from different quarters including some youth. It is our considered opinion that the ultimate aim of all this was to cower us so that we would not stand against perpetration of violence against the masses at this juncture. However, as we assured the nation, we will not be intimidated," he said.
"The objective of this programme is to eliminate all forms of violence, particularly politically motivated, in our society, to enable enjoyment of all rights and freedoms as enshrined in Zimbabwe's Constitution, specifically sections 52(a), 60(1)(a) and 61(a)."
Sadomba said the former freedom fighters wanted to use the opportunity to apologise to citizens for all the violence committed by their members in the past elections.
In a statement, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA) education secretary, Wilbert Sadomba said the former freedom fighters had embarked on a pilot project to campaign for peace ahead of the highly-anticipated elections.
"We had covered Mutoko, Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, Hwedza, Kadoma, Sanyati, Gokwe and Gweru with resounding success.
"ZNLWVA feels sad that there is an attempt to nip this initiative in the bud by the authorities. The pilot programme was stopped in Mashonaland East, when the group was subjected to questioning by members of the intelligence services," he said.
Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said she was unaware of the programme.
"I am not aware of such a programme and would need to check," she said.
Sadomba said the disruption of the war veterans' project was in spite of the fact that the "same organs of the State had been informed".
"There are reports that community leaders, who had been engaged were followed up by the Zimbabwe Republic Police and were similarly interrogated.
"The nation has heard hate speech, threats of violence against us from different quarters including some youth. It is our considered opinion that the ultimate aim of all this was to cower us so that we would not stand against perpetration of violence against the masses at this juncture. However, as we assured the nation, we will not be intimidated," he said.
"The objective of this programme is to eliminate all forms of violence, particularly politically motivated, in our society, to enable enjoyment of all rights and freedoms as enshrined in Zimbabwe's Constitution, specifically sections 52(a), 60(1)(a) and 61(a)."
Sadomba said the former freedom fighters wanted to use the opportunity to apologise to citizens for all the violence committed by their members in the past elections.
Source - newsday
