Johannesburg/Harare - Post-election violence in Zimbabwe
continued unabated Sunday as the country headed for a presidential
run-off, with more than 50 opposition members arrested in the past
days for allegedly burning property at a farm belong to the country's
top cop.
Police in Mashonaland Central province confirmed the arrests of 56
members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for rioting and
destroying property at a farm in Shamva - about 100 kilometres north-
east of Harare.
The MDC lawyer and officials are saying the alleged crime occurred
at a farm belonging to police chief Augustine Chihuri.
'We have arrested 56 MDC supporters for violence and arson in
Shamva. They will appear in court soon,' said a police official in
Bindura - the Mashonaland Central province capital, under which
Shamva falls.
Alec Muchadehama, the MDC lawyer said the arrests lasted from
Tuesday to Friday and the suspects are still in custody.
'We were told that the magistrate for the area is on leave so a
relief will come either on Tuesday or Thursday next week,' said
Muchadehama.
Zimbabwe has been plagued by violence since the March 29 poll in
which MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai trounced President Robert Mugabe. The
MDC claims that it has lost at least 30 supporters to violence by
government-backed militias and soldiers.
Tsvangirai has been out of the country for about five weeks now
and is expected to return in the next few days ahead of a
presidential run-off, the date of which has yet to be announced.
The state-run weekly, The Sunday Mail quotes the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairman George Chiweshe as ruling out the
run-off in 21 days as required by the law and as demanded by the MDC
on Saturday.
'It is likely that will extend the period. We want to make it
clear that we intend to hold the election at the earliest possible
date,' the paper quotes Chiweshe. The paper said there were
'necessary logistics' that includes funds that needed to be available
for the election to be held.
Meanwhile, the state-run weekly, The Sunday Mail, reports that
London and Washington are persuading former Mozambique president
Joachim Chissano and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan to entice
Mugabe to accept a government of national unity with Tsvangirai.
The paper quotes unnamed diplomatic sources as saying the two most
powerful nations had first sought to ask former Zambian president
Kenneth Kaunda to take up the mediation role.
John Tee.May 11th, 2008 - 23:10:45
Regrettably Mugabe will prvail. The International communities have watched his atrocoties for 28 years, and he knows they will not bother now. Why are they watching his thugs kill the opposition ? M'beke is a moral coward. Are all our Governments the same?
John Tee.
Report this comment