The MDC condemns, in the strongest terms, the attack on Albrecht Conze, the German Ambassador to Zimbabwe on Tuesday night as an unfortunate signal of lawlessness with a potential to send out a dangerous message to the international community.
It is inconceivable how a diplomat can be a crime victim in a country the police pride themselves of being constantly on a state of high alert and always move with speed whenever large sections of innocent citizens assemble to express themselves or to engage in their legitimate private business. The party is equally concerned that it has taken more than three days for the police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to acknowledge the report of the crime, which the embassy insists was filed at Harares Avondale Police Station on the same day.
According to the embassy the incident took place at the intersection of Churchill and College Road near Mt. Pleasant in Harare at about 7 pm. The diplomats Mercedes Benz limousine was severely damaged with a metal object although he managed to escape unharmed.
The MDC calls on the police to investigate the attack as quickly as possible in order to clear fears linked to the speculation that Ambassador Conzes recent comments about Zanu PFs nationalisation policy could have something to do with the assault.
Last week Ambassador Conze published an article in a local newspaper entitled: Best practices for Empowerment – a German view. In the article, he advised Zanu PF to rethink its empowerment policies, or risk further international isolation.
The ambassador said: The recent rattling of sabres against the ghost of white supremacy does carry the risk of isolating the country once again from Africas dynamic mainstream. The rhetoric used by certain ministers in this respect is not only ill-founded, irritating and unconstitutional, but totally out of tune with the rest of the continent, where race issues have long been set aside, with no more impact on policy decisions.
The Herald, the sister paper to The Peoples Voice, a Zanu PF mouth-piece reacted swiftly to Ambassadors Conzes views. In an unconcealed fit of rage, the Heralds newspaper columnist, Nathaniel Manheru, who always reflects Zanu PFs thinking, was particularly acerbic in his undiplomatic attack on the German envoy.
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