Riot police seal off Town House

Business at Town House came to a halt as council staff left, fearing the meeting could degenerate into violence that characterised Mbare and Budiriro earlier this week when suspected MDC-T youths went on the
rampage. All entrances into Town House were locked when The Herald visited the municipal headquarters.

“The town clerk and all senior council officials have all left their offices after indications that some MDC-T youths and rank marshals intended to gather here,” said a municipal police officer manning the main gate.

Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo condemned the disruption of business, saying MDC-T should not use council offices for party business.
“It is unfortunate that some sections of the community have decided to aggressively pursue their skewed political agenda at Town House to the extent of mobilising youths and rank marshals to report there for political discourse,” he said.

Minister Chombo said it was illegal and improper for a political party to turn civic centres into “political stadia”.
“I was alerted as minister that Mr Tsvangirai, who is a Prime Minister, wanted to meet rank marshals at Town House.
“As a ministry we were unaware of the visit to Town House. This habit of trying to use local authorities’ space to push a political agenda will not be tolerated and councillors should stick to their mandates,” added Minister Chombo.

Harare Mayor Mr Muchadeyi Masunda said he had heard reports of the meeting.
“There are all sorts of rumours doing the rounds. What I heard is that he (Mr Tsvangirai) was going to be at Town House to address mahwindi. I do not believe it was true because as mayor I was not aware of it,” he said,adding that people should respect Town House.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Mr Jameson Timba last night dismissed the reports.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said while they were not aware of Mr Tsvangirai’s visit, they had deployed personnel around Town House for “security” reasons. – The Herald