The activists had
been gathered near Manama Mission awaiting the arrival of MDC President
Morgan Tsvangirai who was due to address a rally. A convoy of 4 unregistered
vehicles arrived in the area much to the excitement of those gathered, who
thought Tsvangirai had finally arrived. A man in one of the cars asked the
crowd what they were waiting for and when the crowd said Tsvangirai, they
jumped out of their vehicles and started assaulting everyone.
Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme said the attack was led by war veterans
Mlungiselwa Nkomo, Edward Sibanda and Jacob Ngwenya. The trio have been
terrorizing villagers in Gwanda, brandishing AK-47 rifles and tear gas
grenades.
Tsvangirai was later forced to abandon the rally after heavily armed
soldiers camped inside the designated venue, effectively sealing it off from
his campaign team. Saungweme told us the vehicles involved in the Gwanda
attack were the same ones used to trail Tsvangirai’s convoy in Esigodini on
Friday. Police at a roadblock later barred the convoy from proceeding with
their campaign journey. The team was also detained for about 3 hours at
Esigodini police station.
Meanwhile MDC victory celebrations in Lower Gweru were disrupted on Thursday
by a serving soldier identified as Mangena who drew out a pistol and shot at
the wheels of an MDC Isuzu truck. The incident took place in front of MDC
legislators Sam Sipepa Nkomo, Amos Chibaya and Gweru mayor Sesel Zvidzai.
Mangena is said to have chased a group of MDC women who were cooking at the
venue, forcing them to abandon their pots in the bush. Despite parliamentary
elections having ended two months ago Mangena is said to have shouted at the
top of his voice that the MDC had torn down his posters.
SWAfrica Radio
Post published in: News