Sekeramayi claims Mugabe firmly in control of Zimbabwe

THE Government is completely in control of the country with the police having managed to deal with MDC T- led illegal demonstrations in Harare, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi said yesterday.

He said this while trashing claims in South African media that the country's security forces had joined the illegal protests.

It is understood the intention of the sponsored stories was to create an impression that the country had become ungovernable.

A number of South African media organisations on Monday picked a story from CAJ News that claimed that the country's security forces had joined the illegal demonstrations.

"There is absolutely no truth in those fabrications that soldiers have joined anti-Government protests," said Minister Sekeramayi.

"All the armed forces are standing solidly behind the Government. They will not take part in illegal activities that seek to remove a constitutionally elected Government."

The Zimbabwe Republic Police on Monday revealed that the MDC-T and its affiliate political parties and civic groupings were sourcing replicas of police and Zimbabwe National Army uniforms from an African country (name withheld) with the intention of using them to destabilise the country.

Indications are that they want to give the replica uniforms to their activists so that they wear them during their illegal demonstrations with the intention of deceiving Zimbabweans that the country's security forces were part of the protests.

In fact, the party's youth chairperson Happymore Chidziva, wore the replica ZNA uniform on Wednesday last week when he addressed party activists before leading a violent demonstration that resulted in destruction of property, stoning and burning of vehicles.

"But we also know that there will be so many people posing as soldiers. The opposition has been trying their best to get what will appear as camouflage of the Defence Forces in order to confuse people that they have teamed up. But the soldiers are not part of that.

"Government is in control because there is the police and the Central Intelligence organisation. They will expose this. There is no breakdown of law in Zimbabwe. The police have managed to contain the situation," said Minister Sekeramayi.

He also dismissed claims in some local private media organisations that soldiers were last Friday night deployed to crush opposition elements who were spearheading the violent demonstrations.

"When soldiers are deployed everyone can see it. You don't have to imagine. There is a wrong impression that is being created and purveyed through hostile media that things are very bad in Zimbabwe. But the truth is that the police have managed to control the situation," said Minister Sekeramayi.

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services permanent secretary Mr George Charamba, on Monday wrote to one of the media organisations in South Africa, the Guptas' Africa News Network 7 (ANN7) television station, expressing Government's disgust at the station's broadcasting of a story that they picked from CAJ News without seeking confirmation from Zimbabwe.

The story claimed that unnamed soldiers and police officers had indicated that they were joining the demonstrations because they had not been paid yet they were paid.