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MDC condemns arrest of Mvurwi protestors
22 Jan 2019 at 13:54hrs | Views
MDC-Alliance chairman for Mashonaland Central province George Gwarada has condemned the arrest of eleven suspected Mvurwi protestors and one in Guruve saying the arrests are meant to weaken their support in the ZANU PF stronghold province.
Gwarada said they performed fairly in the harmonized elections last year and that shocked ZANU PF hence they want to weaken their support by arresting their supporters.
"As MDC-Alliance we strongly condemn the arrest of our supporters in Mvurwi and Guruve respectively all the suspects were denied bail which is their constitutional right, but it is not surprising to us since ZANU PF was shocked with our performance after managing to pick council seats in major towns around the province," Gwarada said.
Apparently eleven suspects were arrested in Mvurwi and remanded in custody to 25 January, while 49 are still at large and in Guruve one suspect was arrested and also remanded in custody following last week's violent protest against the fuel price increases.
"The protests were a nationwide thing what some of our supporters did was to respond to the call by Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which called for a stay away, every Zimbabwean responded including some ZANU PF supporters in the province but our members were arrested no looting or violence was recorded in Mvurwi and Guruve so why are our people languishing in remand," lamented Gwarada.
However, Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T spokesperson Linda Masararisa expressed no concern over the denial of bail on alleged protestors saying the protests were fueled by Nelson Chamisa as a desperate measure to a Government of National Unity (GNU).
"I do not feel sorry for those arrested or assaulted by the security forces because they are being used by Chamisa to push for GNU but the way he is doing it is wrong l said it before last year in November when they went on rampage burning infrastructure as a way to force government into GNU," said Masarira.
"We know Chamisa is a product of G40 since he does business with Robert Mugabe but his idea of using violence is very barbaric those being used belong to the prison so they should be in prison because that is where they belong."
Last Friday ZANU PF Mashonaland Central provincial co-ordinating committee (PCC) gathered in Bindura and reportedly brought reports from all the districts on last week's protests before urging members to go to work in the province despite more alleged calls of protests this week.
Gwarada said they performed fairly in the harmonized elections last year and that shocked ZANU PF hence they want to weaken their support by arresting their supporters.
"As MDC-Alliance we strongly condemn the arrest of our supporters in Mvurwi and Guruve respectively all the suspects were denied bail which is their constitutional right, but it is not surprising to us since ZANU PF was shocked with our performance after managing to pick council seats in major towns around the province," Gwarada said.
Apparently eleven suspects were arrested in Mvurwi and remanded in custody to 25 January, while 49 are still at large and in Guruve one suspect was arrested and also remanded in custody following last week's violent protest against the fuel price increases.
"The protests were a nationwide thing what some of our supporters did was to respond to the call by Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which called for a stay away, every Zimbabwean responded including some ZANU PF supporters in the province but our members were arrested no looting or violence was recorded in Mvurwi and Guruve so why are our people languishing in remand," lamented Gwarada.
However, Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T spokesperson Linda Masararisa expressed no concern over the denial of bail on alleged protestors saying the protests were fueled by Nelson Chamisa as a desperate measure to a Government of National Unity (GNU).
"I do not feel sorry for those arrested or assaulted by the security forces because they are being used by Chamisa to push for GNU but the way he is doing it is wrong l said it before last year in November when they went on rampage burning infrastructure as a way to force government into GNU," said Masarira.
"We know Chamisa is a product of G40 since he does business with Robert Mugabe but his idea of using violence is very barbaric those being used belong to the prison so they should be in prison because that is where they belong."
Last Friday ZANU PF Mashonaland Central provincial co-ordinating committee (PCC) gathered in Bindura and reportedly brought reports from all the districts on last week's protests before urging members to go to work in the province despite more alleged calls of protests this week.
Source - Byo24News
