EDITORIAL COMMENT: Surely a lie has no legs

A LIE has no legs, so goes the adage. And ultimately, the truth will prevail.

A number of Non-Governmental Organisations and the opposition MDC Alliance have been on the warpath, peddling falsehoods regarding last month’s riots, which interestingly, were instigated by them.

The NGOs and MDC-A have been busy pushing a narrative meant to tarnish the image of the country and Government, implying that police and the army simply bolted out of police camps and barracks to “attack people on the streets”. The narrative by the opposition and its allies, including some media outlets, has been fashioned in such a manner that it seeks to ignore the wrongs done by those who looted shops, destroyed property including clinics and even killed a police officer.

There was a concerted attack against police officers resulting in one deceased officer and 78 injured across the country as follows; Harare 56, Bulawayo 16, Manicaland three and Mashonaland East three.

The narrative has been aimed at fooling the world into believing that people were “arrested for doing nothing wrong”, yet pictures of remains of buildings and cars burnt are there for all to see. In addition, there were reports of women allegedly raped by security forces, but when asked by the police and Government to come forward and report such cases so that perpetrators are brought to book, they have gone on mute mode.

Only one case of rape has since been reported in Chitungwiza. The security arms of the State have been lambasted for doing what they are supposed to do as per the Constitution, which is to protect citizens and property and ensure peace, order and stability.

Last week, our sister paper, The Herald, reported that NGOs that are cooking up figures of people who died during last month’s MDC-Alliance-instigated violence were exposed after a man they claimed to have been shot dead by security officers appeared before a Kadoma magistrate.

Tinashe Kaitano (20) was convicted of arson for setting alight a Zanu-PF administrative district office. Kaitano was convicted together with MDC-Alliance Kadoma District chairperson and Ward 2 Councillor Michael Gore.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and Amnesty International recently released a list of alleged victims of the fatal shooting, including Kaitano of Ward 2. They claimed Kaitano had been buried at a cemetery in Kadoma.

Inquiries by The Herald with the City of Kadoma Housing and Community Services director Mr Aaron Masembura showed that no one with a similar name had been buried at Rimuka Cemetery after the violence.

President Mnangagwa has also queried the figures being claimed by foreign media houses who feed from the anti-Government NGOs to set an agenda against Zimbabwe on the global stage.

He challenged relatives of those alleged to have been killed by security forces to bring evidence, and the Kadoma revelation pokes holes into the misleading narrative.