But even as he delivered his speech, remarkably devoid of the usual vitriol against the west and political opponents, innocent Zimbabweans who had gone to bury Mujuru were uneasy as the rowdy Zanu (PF) supporters jeered at the mention of the other partners in the inclusive government, especially Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
“No violence no violence, let’s create peace in our country. We are happy that the last months have witnessed some remarkable peace and lets continue in that vein until elections,” said Mugabe.
But even as he spoke there was an undercurrent of jeers from his supporters who thought the MDC leadership should not be at the funeral.
The words of the President were indeed welcome but to people who have been bashed by his supporters they were meaningless.
“The police should show that they are ready to deal with cases of violence and arrest perpetrators without partisan bias,” said Aaron Mazambuko who attended the burial service.
MDC Senator for Mzilikazi, Alderman Hlalo, said Mugabe was sincere but maybe his supporters were not.
Many people at Heroes Acre were too scared even to comment on the matter as they were scared of Zanu (PF) merchants of terror.
Others said it was hard to believe Mugabe’s sincerity when his party which controls the police had not called for an investigation of the thugs who disrupted Parliament as recently as three weeks ago.
According to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights statistics, in the first seven months of this year 878 people were either, arrested, detained or prosecuted while others were subjected to attacks and harassment that required legal protection.
Even today residents of Mbare are not free to express themselves as Mugabe’s foot soldiers, Chipangano have declared the country’s oldest suburb their domain.
On Sunday in Mutare Tsvangirai urged Mugabe to ensure that his supporters stopped the violence.
Post published in: News