Police disrupt Tsvangirai meeting in Mutare

Morgan Tsvangirai

“The party had notified the police of the private meeting by (Morgan) Tsvangirai and the party leadership, just as similar private meetings have been held with other provincial leaders in other provinces throughout the country.

“Eight officers came and insisted on sitting through the meeting after one of the officers who had initially sneaked into the meeting was chucked out by alert members of the provincial leadership,” said Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, in a statement.

“Even after President Tsvangirai had finished his presentation, the police insisted on coming back to sit through the remainder of the sensitive and private deliberations on election strategy.

“The provincial leadership alerted the police of the provisions of POSA which did not entitle them to attend private meetings that are not rallies but they said their superiors had told them to come and hear what Tsvangirai was planning for the party.

This left the provincial leadership with no option but to cancel the rest of the deliberations as the police kept insisting on sitting through the private deliberations, contrary to the provisions of the law.

“The police action confirms what has become wrong with our politics,” said Tamborinyoka. “The police, who have often acted as appendages of Zanu (PF), cannot insist on sitting through private, internal deliberations of a political party in contravention of the very rule of law they are supposed to uphold.”

Tamborinyoka said allowing them to sit through the private deliberations would have been the same as inviting the police into the national executive meeting of the MDC.

Tsvangirai will address a rally at Hauna growth point in Mutasa North tomorrow before proceeding to address another at Chimbudzi business centre in Buhera Central on Saturday.

On Sunday, he will hold another rally at Matsika business centre in Makoni West.