adminthe period leading to elections violence-free.
Residents of Chitungwiza and other areas where violence flared up are terrified and the last thing they want to hear now is that we will soon be having elections. They fear the worst.
Yet they are supposed to be rejoicing that they are once again getting another opportunity to choose who should represent them in council, House of Assembly, Senate and who should be their President.
Generally, Zimbabwe has been a peaceful country. It is these sporadic outbreaks of violence that are a cause for concern. They may be few and far between but they are symptomatic of bigger problems that we could have if they are not stemmed in the bud.
So when the governing bodies of the three parties to the GPA meet on Friday we expect them to come up with clear strategies of dealing with violence. It should not be just another talk show or a platform of trading accusations.
It is not a question of who is more violent than the other. What we need is zero tolerance to violence whether it is intra-party or inter-party.
The parties to the GPA have all acknowledged that they were responsible for violence at one point or another and committed themselves to creating a new Zimbabwe that is free of intimidation and violence.
So when they meet on Friday they should be revisiting what they committed themselves to do in the GPA. In Article X, they recognise the right to canvass and freely mobilise for political support is the cornerstone of any multi-party democratic system.
They agreed that there should be free political activity throughout Zimbabwe within the ambit of the law in which all political parties are able to propagate their views and canvas for support, free of harassment and intimidation.
In Article Xll, they commit themselves to work together “in a manner which guarantees the full implementation and realisation of the right to freedom of association and assembly”.
They also stated that the Government would undertake training programmes, workshops/ meetings for the police and other enforcement agencies “directed at an appreciation of the right of freedom of assembly and association and the proper interpretation, understanding and application of the security legislation”.
What this shows is that political parties have grappled with this matter before and have agreed on what needs to be done to create the right environment for political activity. They need to basically revisit what they agreed to do and start doing it. There is no justification for political violence.
The youths we saw fighting in Chitungwiza on Sunday did not have any reason to fight. It was clearly not a spontaneous reaction to something that had offended them. There was a leadership failure.
The supporters are not fighting on their own volition. It is those that are instigating the violence who should be dealt with.
We expect the meeting on Friday to clearly state how the political parties can co-exist and how they can use the existing venues to have their rallies without any disturbances.
We hope the police will be part of that meeting so that they can share their experiences in maintaining law and order. The parties will need to commit themselves to fully co-operate with the police when they hold their rallies.
On their part, the police will have to undertake to impartially and professionally manage the election period giving each political party its due share of rallies and meetings.
The police have to be present at these meetings. MDC-T cannot claim to have their own security and yet turn to the police when the situation gets out of hand as was the case in Chitungwiza. Surely rallies are public meetings and police notification and presence is a requirement.
Jomic needs to be involved in monitoring how access has been granted to political parties to hold their meetings and ensure that they are complying with the conditions set by the police for the holding of those meetings.
We emphasise that there must always be police presence. Police have set standards on the minimum number of policemen that should be deployed to an event, based on the anticipated crowd. If advance notice is given, police should be able to beef up their numbers from elsewhere.
Police should therefore not claim that a meeting cannot be held because they do not have enough manpower if they have been notified well ahead of time.
It should not be difficult to keep supporters of MDC-T and Zanu PF apart; or those of Zapu and MDC.
If Zimbabwe is to successfully hold credible, free and fair elections, one of the minimum requirements is that the parties must be able to freely campaign within the boundaries of the law.
People should not be forced to attend rallies as is alleged to have happened in Chitungwiza.
The parties need to agree, guided by the police, on the dos and don’ts of campaigning. The roadmap to the holding of free and fair elections, that GPA negotiators have agreed to and witnessed by the
Sadc facilitator, is clear about what should happen in the period leading up to the elections.
Anyone fanning violence is clearly opposed to the holding of elections. We believe Zimbabweans are capable of solving their own problems without resorting to calling the Sadc facilitator. The issue of violence is one such challenge that we should resolve on our own and report back to Sadc on what we would have done.
Online Reporter