The brutal assault case was reported and brought before the courts. Five months down the line, the Magistrates court is yet to give judgment.
Nezi was attacked at Cold Storage Commission (CSC) premises in Marondera one April evening, where he met friends for a drink.
I went to CSC cocktail bar for a drink with friends on the ill-fated April evening. Zanu (PF) youths were chatting to each other in the corner. Taurai Sauti approached me and accused my brother and MDC-T Member of Parliament for Murewa South, Ward Nezi, of belonging to a political party advocating the inclusion of Gay and Lesbian issues in the constitution. Before I could understand the aim of the accusations, Sauti started to assault me. I lost a tooth in the attack.
I made a report to the police the following morning and Sauti was arrested. He has been appearing at the Marondera Magistrates court ever since. I have lost count of the numerous occasions the case has been heard.
In ward 8 Murewa north, a suspected MDC-T activist, Brighton Makanjera, was threatened with unspecified disciplinary action by a Zanu (PF) truck driver, Taurai
Manyenze, if he made constitution contributions not in keeping with Zanu (PF) expectations. The Zanu (PF) driver is based at Murewa Centre. The case was reported
at Murewa Police Station and docket CR 190/7/2010 was opened. No arrests have been made to date.
In another Murewa incident, Zanu (PF) youth and son to a police inspector, identified
as Fate, destroyed MDC-T prepared constitution talking points distributed at the local
hospital by MDC-T official, Golden Mutize. Fate, employed as a security guard at the
hospital, threatened medical staff at the institution who received the talking points with beatings. He is a Border Gezi youth training graduate. Mutize reported the incident at the local police station and docket CR 139/7/2010 was opened. No further action has been taken.
Zanu (PF) officials who spoke on condition of anonymity denied silencing opponents
in the constitution making process.
We educated our party supporters on Zanu (PF)s position regarding talking points. We did not threaten MDC followers into silence. Where did we meet MDC supporters to silence them? asked a Zanu (PF) chairperson at Mutoko Business Centre.
Zanu (PF) Copac Co-Chairperson, Paul Mangwana, dismissed violence claims as
baseless: There was no tangible evidence of Copac related violence on the ground.
MDC-T Copac Co-Chairperson, Douglas Mwonzora, admitted the constitution making process was marred by isolated incidents of violence. To be specific, we had to temporarily suspend Copac meetings in some parts of Nyanga and Chipinge due to Zanu (PF) spearheaded disturbances. When we revisited the areas we managed to collect peoples views conveniently. Peoples views seemed not affected by past violence. Collected views were credible. We reported the Zanu (PF) violence top police but no action was taken.
MDC-T recently threatened to mobilize party supporters for a No Vote at referendum if the constitution outcome does not reflect the wish of the people.
Post published in: Politics