News / National
BBC journalists stage-manage Zimbabwe political violence, say police
19 Mar 2013 at 04:49hrs | Views
TWO British Broadcasting Corporation journalists on Saturday stage-managed political violence in Mbare with the aid of MDC-T officials which they then flighted on their channel in an attempt to trash the referendum and portray Zimbabwe as a country riddled with political violence.
Sources said the MDC-T was on a mission to portray the country as violence ridden ahead of elections scheduled for later this year.
However, police said they are ready to deal with any cases of political violence, be it inter-party or intra-party.
President Mugabe has on numerous occasions denounced all forms of political violence saying there is a need for peace during the forthcoming elections.
Police said the two BBC journalists, Andrew Harding and Stuart Philips, came into the country on the same plane with a senior MDC-T official and went to Mbare with MDC-T officials who were putting up posters urging people to vote "Yes" for the draft constitution.
They roped in street kids in the area and went on to film them putting up MDC-T posters in the company of MDC-T's Sten Zvorwadza who is aspiring to be a Member of Parliament in the area, but they were not accredited with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission or the Zimbabwe Media Commission to carry out such work in the country.
As the MDC-T officials and street kids were putting up the posters at Block 6 at Nenyere Flats, they were challenged by one Mrs Plaxedes Jarawaza, who asked them why they were sticking the posters on her premises without permission and in contravention of the Electoral Act, police said.
A misunderstanding ensued and other residents came out in support of Mrs Jarawaza.
They poured water on the streets kids and journalists who then fled towards the city centre.
A report was made at Matapi Police Station.
The BBC journalists filmed the commotion which was flighted 30 minutes later on their news channel in an effort to portray the country and the referendum as marred by violence.
After the incident, they caught the afternoon plane and flew to South Africa.
"After imnvestigations, it was discovered that the BBC journalists were not accredited to cover the referendum in the country," said police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba.
A Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic) team went to investigate the incident and is said to have blamed the MDC-T for the incident.
Police also said they are investigating the petrol bombing of Mr William Chapepa of Chief Tandi in Manicaland allegedly by MDC-T supporters.
Mr Chapepa sustained serious burns and is recovering at Rusape Hospital. One Samson Magunda, an MDC-T aspiring councillor for Ward 12 in Headlands, has since been arrested over the incident but his other accomplices are said to be on the run.
Police also arrested two Zanu-PF youths - Libson Jaure and Blessing Chikwira - who were trying to disrupt an MDC-T rally on the draft constitution in Kwekwe which was addressed by MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti last Thursday.
They appeared in court last week and were further remanded in custody to later this month.
Sources said the MDC-T was on a mission to portray the country as violence ridden ahead of elections scheduled for later this year.
However, police said they are ready to deal with any cases of political violence, be it inter-party or intra-party.
President Mugabe has on numerous occasions denounced all forms of political violence saying there is a need for peace during the forthcoming elections.
Police said the two BBC journalists, Andrew Harding and Stuart Philips, came into the country on the same plane with a senior MDC-T official and went to Mbare with MDC-T officials who were putting up posters urging people to vote "Yes" for the draft constitution.
They roped in street kids in the area and went on to film them putting up MDC-T posters in the company of MDC-T's Sten Zvorwadza who is aspiring to be a Member of Parliament in the area, but they were not accredited with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission or the Zimbabwe Media Commission to carry out such work in the country.
As the MDC-T officials and street kids were putting up the posters at Block 6 at Nenyere Flats, they were challenged by one Mrs Plaxedes Jarawaza, who asked them why they were sticking the posters on her premises without permission and in contravention of the Electoral Act, police said.
A misunderstanding ensued and other residents came out in support of Mrs Jarawaza.
They poured water on the streets kids and journalists who then fled towards the city centre.
A report was made at Matapi Police Station.
The BBC journalists filmed the commotion which was flighted 30 minutes later on their news channel in an effort to portray the country and the referendum as marred by violence.
After the incident, they caught the afternoon plane and flew to South Africa.
"After imnvestigations, it was discovered that the BBC journalists were not accredited to cover the referendum in the country," said police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba.
A Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic) team went to investigate the incident and is said to have blamed the MDC-T for the incident.
Police also said they are investigating the petrol bombing of Mr William Chapepa of Chief Tandi in Manicaland allegedly by MDC-T supporters.
Mr Chapepa sustained serious burns and is recovering at Rusape Hospital. One Samson Magunda, an MDC-T aspiring councillor for Ward 12 in Headlands, has since been arrested over the incident but his other accomplices are said to be on the run.
Police also arrested two Zanu-PF youths - Libson Jaure and Blessing Chikwira - who were trying to disrupt an MDC-T rally on the draft constitution in Kwekwe which was addressed by MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti last Thursday.
They appeared in court last week and were further remanded in custody to later this month.
Source - TH
