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Harare Bureau
FRESH evidence has emerged of yet another plot by the United States to fund opposition linked civil society organisations to destabilise the country through sustained civil unrest.
Our Harare Bureau has gathered that the US Embassy in Harare has slated a workshop in the capital between 2 and 10 December to train subversive civil society organisations on strategies of sustaining demonstrations. An organisation dubbed Frontline Defenders is facilitating the workshop in conjunction with the US Embassy. The agenda of the workshop includes training civil society organisations on “ways to sustain demonstrations” and how to outsmart the police.
This strategy is a change in tact as recent opposition demonstrations, such as last week’s illegal Hope of the Nation Address (Hona) by MDC-Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, have been swiftly dwelt with by the police. Sources told our Harare Bureau that the timing of the meeting is also planned to coincide with the visit by United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Ms Hilal Elver who is currently in the country.
“The Frontline Defenders is planning a workshop with the aim of training subversive civil society organisations on ways of sustaining demonstrations. The US Embassy is planning this workshop and is intending to host it at the Embassy’s Chancery.”
The US Embassy in Harare did not respond to questions send by our Harare Bureau. An official from the Embassy, Mr Wezani Siza, promised that the US will respond, but they had not done so by late yesterday. Last week, the UN said Ms Elver, will carry out a fact-finding visit to Zimbabwe from 18 to 28 November 2019. In a statement, Mr Elver confirmed her tour to the country.
“The objective of my visit is to engage in constructive discussions to identify good practices as well as challenges to the enjoyment of the right to food in Zimbabwe, and provide useful recommendations to the Government and others,” read the statement in part.
“I will consider the increased challenges posed by the economic crisis, as well as the role of the private sector, the impact of climate change, natural disasters and drought on food security and people’s livelihoods, and the issues related to nutrition and food quality in both urban and rural areas.”
Ms Elver’s visit to the country is the first by an independent expert on the right to food. The Special Rapporteur will visit Harare and rural areas most affected by the El Nino-induced drought. She will meet Government officials, independent institutions, representatives from the UN system, the international donor community, civil society organisations and local communities. She concludes her visit on 28 November but her final report will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2020.
A group of shady organisations from Zimbabwe with links to the opposition MDC-Alliance have in recent months been hard at work laying the groundwork for civil unrest and planning new tactics against the police, which has been extensively trained to deal with such threats. Last week, police dispersed dozens of MDC-Alliance’s supporters that gathered at the party’s headquarters in Harare, despite the fact that police had banned the gathering.
Online Reporter