Zimbabwe is at the doorstep of uncharted waters in terms of history, with protests that are violently crushed being the order of the day, while the government remains obstinate and unyielding, meaning like never before, cool heads are needed if this country is to survive this turbulence.
NewsDay Editor
No matter how unpalatable it is to government, there must be a realisation that allowing people to demonstrate is enshrined in the Constitution and responding with brute force each time there are protests is not the solution.
The police should realise that trying to block demonstrations only increases tensions between themselves and the protesters and this inevitably leads to violence.
What is quite strange about the police trying to block these demonstrations is that each time their decisions have been challenged in the courts, the force has lost all the time.
Why the police keep trying to block demonstrations beggars belief, as they keep doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result.
Why the government and the police are being paranoid is anyone’s guess, as previously, MDC-T has held marches in several towns, with little or no incident and why authorities wanted to crush last week’s protests just does not make sense.
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Government officials, for want of protecting their lofty jobs, should also refrain from issuing inflammatory statements, as this will only stoke the flames and sooner rather than later, the country will be on fire.
To add fuel to the already raging flames, Zanu PF youths have threatened to join demonstrations on the side of the police and help them to violently put down the protests.
Zanu PF youths have no business involving themselves in police work, as this will be the height of lawlessness and the birth of a vigilante movement.
Nobody interfered with them when they held their million-man march a few months ago and they should stay out of other parties’ protests.
Zimbabwe can ill-afford such lawlessness being perpetrated with impunity and the government must make it categorically clear that political parties must stay out of police business, failure of which there shall be a free-for-all situation that does not benefit anyone.
The police must be impartial and they do not belong to Zanu PF, hence, the declaration that the party’s youths want to come to their aid makes for disturbing reading.
What is needed now more than ever is engagement between the government, the police, opposition parties and civil society, as obstinance by the authorities only provokes more anger and tension, creating a tinderbox situation.
On the other hand, protest organisers must always ensure that their demonstrations are peaceful, even in the face of utmost provocation, as authorities will use the slightest excuse to shut them down.
The Constitution gives demonstrators the right to protest, but with those rights comes responsibility and it is the duty of every Zimbabwean to ensure that peace is kept sacrosanct.
