News / National
Chamisa already under arrest?
17 Nov 2018 at 12:21hrs | Views
DEFIANT MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has said he is not fazed by arrest threats made by security service chiefs saying he is ready for whatever the Mnangagwa regime is planning.
"Let them do what they want. I am not moved by anything. I have been arrested several times for no apparent reason," the opposition leader told a press conference in Harare this Thursday.
Chamisa, currently staging rallies around the country, has upped pressure on the government after the disputed July 30 elections.
The opposition leader rejected his defeat in the elections, accusing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of manipulating the outcome in Mnangagwa's favour.
However, police chief Godwin Matanga threatened to arrest the opposition leader for allegedly inciting the post-election violence which killed six people and left several others injured.
Matanga was testifying before a Commission appointed by Mnangagwa to probe the violence.
Chamisa said the government was trying to subject him to the same persecution and brutalisation suffered by founding MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai who succumbed to cancer in February this year.
"We are not a prohibited political party. We are part of the matrix of the government," he said.
"They are trying to do a Morgan Tsvangirai on Nelson Chamisa. I am already under arrest because I challenged someone.
"Even if they take us to jail, they will not arrest the problems affecting the country, they will not arrest the will of the people."
Chamisa rejected allegations by the military and police commanders who claimed that an armed MDC youth militia was behind the August 1 post-election killings.
He insisted that the MDC was a legitimate, law-abiding political party and not a terrorist organisation.
"Where have you seen a terrorist organisation which has a headquarters in the road as the Parliament? No terrorist organisation holds rallies and campaigns," he charged.
"We do not have arms of war, we have arms of love. We believe in democratic tools. We are not like ISIS or Al Shabaab."
He added; "We are ready anytime to engage. We have answers. They have the problems.
"Even if it is going to take us a long time, our visionary Dr Morgan Tsvangirai taught us to use democratic means to obtain our victory.
"We are not trying to fight the army or the police or the judiciary. We are competing for political space to provide the country with better political leadership."
"Let them do what they want. I am not moved by anything. I have been arrested several times for no apparent reason," the opposition leader told a press conference in Harare this Thursday.
Chamisa, currently staging rallies around the country, has upped pressure on the government after the disputed July 30 elections.
The opposition leader rejected his defeat in the elections, accusing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of manipulating the outcome in Mnangagwa's favour.
However, police chief Godwin Matanga threatened to arrest the opposition leader for allegedly inciting the post-election violence which killed six people and left several others injured.
Matanga was testifying before a Commission appointed by Mnangagwa to probe the violence.
Chamisa said the government was trying to subject him to the same persecution and brutalisation suffered by founding MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai who succumbed to cancer in February this year.
"We are not a prohibited political party. We are part of the matrix of the government," he said.
"Even if they take us to jail, they will not arrest the problems affecting the country, they will not arrest the will of the people."
Chamisa rejected allegations by the military and police commanders who claimed that an armed MDC youth militia was behind the August 1 post-election killings.
He insisted that the MDC was a legitimate, law-abiding political party and not a terrorist organisation.
"Where have you seen a terrorist organisation which has a headquarters in the road as the Parliament? No terrorist organisation holds rallies and campaigns," he charged.
"We do not have arms of war, we have arms of love. We believe in democratic tools. We are not like ISIS or Al Shabaab."
He added; "We are ready anytime to engage. We have answers. They have the problems.
"Even if it is going to take us a long time, our visionary Dr Morgan Tsvangirai taught us to use democratic means to obtain our victory.
"We are not trying to fight the army or the police or the judiciary. We are competing for political space to provide the country with better political leadership."
Source - newzimbabwe
