. . . $1 fare buses introduced
“The Zimbabwe Defence Forces and security services have also noted with concern the misinformation campaign by the organisers of the recent riots, who are using the media to urge members of the public and business to continue engaging in the so called “shutdown”, which has led to a trail of destruction, loss of life and injury to citizens.
“The security services want to reiterate the assurance by Government that adequate security has been put in place to ensure members of the public and business go about their activities without hindrance. The Zimbabwe Defence Forces and security services remain committed to the provision of safety and security to all members of the public. In the same vein, we want to warn those bent on causing mayhem that the law will be applied without fear or favour,” said Colonel Mugwisi.
ZRP spokesperson, Commissioner Charity Charamba, said there has been an increase in the number of cases of people committing crime, particularly robberies, while clad in military or police regalia
“Some of these uniforms worn by criminals were seized by rogue elements during the recent riots in Epworth and Chegutu. A case in point is a recent arrest of five armed robbers in Epworth, Harare, on 14 January, who were using police and military regalia to commit armed robberies after hiring vehicles from car-rental companies. We are giving an ultimatum to individuals who have retired, deserted, and absented themselves without official leave (AWOL) from services to immediately handover uniforms either to the police or the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. All those who do not comply with this directive will be flushed out by already deployed members of the security services,” she said.
Last week’s unrest was reportedly hatched at a meeting held on January 11 in Belvedere, Harare, under the ambit of the Zimbabwe Civil Society Convergence (ZCSC). In essence, the meeting was meant to coalesce opposition pressure groups such as Tajamuka, Occupy Africa Unity Square, this Flag, ZCTU, General Consensus, Citizen Manifesto and Concerned Citizens Agenda under the umbrella of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC).
Initially, the stay-away – regarded as a euphemism for the violent protests – was meant to coincide with the dates teachers wanted to hold their demonstrations. Sources privy to goings on in the civic society grouping, which has also been inciting civil servants to down tools, said it has since activated its second phase by launching a petition to AU chair Rwandan President Paul Kagame to intervene to stop the purported human rights abuses against “citizens”.
In the petition, CiZC chairperson Richard Mahiya urged the AU to intervene in the same way they did in DRC after the recent elections, when it advised the elections management body in that country not to announce the final results. It is believed that the security agents’ timeous intervention to blunt the riots foiled the designs
of the NGOs, who were buoyed by a $2 million injection by two Western governments. MDCAlliance president Mr Nelson Chamisa – who is easy bedfellows with the NGOs who are doing his bidding – has even been intimating that the MDCAlliance has the capacity to take up arms.
During a press conference in the capital on August 3 last year, Chamisa said: “We do not believe in violence even if we have the capacity to resort to arms.” His threats to make the country ungovernable were a running thread throughout his election campaign rallies before the July 30 harmonised elections.
In an interview Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, said any more forms of violence was an open application to the State to deal with the perpetrators decisively. She said regime change agents will not succeed.
“We would want to assure people that Government will protect them from hooligans. Our security forces are on the ground monitoring the situation and ensuring that the security of the people is guaranteed. We want to protect our law abiding citizens. As you have witnessed in the past few days we have arrested a lot of protesters.