MUTARE — The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs was on Tuesday forced to prematurely abandon a public hearing on the proposed Electoral Amendment Bill after a group of suspected Zanu PF and MDC-T youths continuously jeered at each other.
The meeting was being held at Beit Hall in the city. Committee chairperson Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the disruptions, but said the committee would continue with public hearings in other areas.
“In Mutare we were abused by unruly youths and held hostage for about an hour,” he said.
The crowd accused the committee of not giving them enough time to analyse the proposed amendments. As Mwonzora stood up to clarify the purpose of the outreach programme, a group of suspected Zanu PF youths and war veterans broke into song, threatening to disrupt the proceedings.
After a few submissions, the crowd turned rowdy moving towards the organisers, forcing the committee to leave the venue using the backdoor.
The committee members rushed to their bus and drove off as the crowd bayed for their blood.
A few contentious issues that caused the storm included the Diaspora vote, postal voting, status of the voters’ roll, accreditation of local observers, election run-offs and sanctions.
“You can’t blame us for these disruptions because we should not be expected to contribute on issues we are not aware of. How is that possible?” asked one of the youths. “Explain to us first and come back later.”
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A potential participant Tinashe Muhoma said: “In future police should be present in such hearings to avoid unruly behaviour and unnecessary disruptions. This is not a party issue, but a national one and therefore we need to change our mind sets in such matters. Tolerance is the only way to move forward as a country.”
