Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was breathing fire at the weekend, accusing Zanu PF of being held hostage by security forces, saying the army and the police were conducting the party’s primary elections.
REPORT BY STAFF REPORTER
“We know that the Zanu PF primaries are being conducted by soldiers,” he told a rally at Tokwe business centre in Nkayi.
“How do you get soldiers controlling elections of any party?”
Zanu PF will hold its primaries today and there have been reports that prospective candidates had to hand in their curriculum vitaes to the Central Intelligence Organisation for vetting.
Tsvangirai has often accused the police and the army of behaving as if they were a security branch of Zanu PF.
“How do you let soldiers in civilian campaigns for a particular party?” he asked rhetorically. “The police are harassing the people instead of protecting them.” The two formations of the MDC have been calling for security sector reform, a plea that Zanu PF has ignored.
Sadc, which is the guarantor of the Global Political Agreement, has also reiterated calls for the security sector to be reformed, but Zanu PF has been indifferent to these calls.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Recently the regional body urged securocrats to make public pronouncements that they were apolitical and would respect the poll outcome.
Tsvangirai said his party was ready for an election whose outcome will not be disputed, insisting that the government should implement agreed reforms before elections are held.
“The people of Zimbabwe need freedom so that they can be happy,” he said. “There has been no happiness in the last 33 years of Zanu PF administration.”
