However the party went on to hold the rally attended by hundreds of fearless locals in the constituency represented by Defence minister and ZANU (PF) Legal affairs secretary Emmerson Mnangagwa.
When The Zimbabwean news crew arrived at the venue- Netherburn Grounds, six police details were manning the entrance but villagers had found their way in.
“We could not cancel the rally because it was at a short notice that police sought to reverse their clearance which they had issued earlier on,” said MDC Organising Secretary Moses Chikwadze.
He added that investigations carried by the party revealed that villagers had been told that MDC could not hold a rally in the area before ZANU (PF) held one. Since 2008, the former ruling party has not done so.
“We also gathered that there was a circular from ZANU (PF)’s hardliners which went around the area dissuading villagers from attending the rally but no one took it serious, ” Chikwaze told The Zimbabwean.
It is not the first time that the MDC has had its rallies disrupted this year. Few months back, ZANU (PF) youths in Silobela started playing a football match at Crossroads grounds on the exact time that MDC intended to hold a rally. Last month several of the party’s members were also attacked soon after attending a similar event in Mutoko.
Post published in: News