A mass stampede broke up the Motlanthe commission of inquiry hearing in Bulawayo on Friday when more than five citizens were whisked away in police vehicles allegedly for causing disharmony, during a citizen meeting about the Harare killings following the July harmonized elections.
BULAWAYO- A mass stampede broke up the Motlanthe commission of inquiry hearing in Bulawayo when more than five citizens were whisked away in police vehicles allegedly for causing disharmony, during a citizen meeting about the Harare killings following the July harmonized elections.
Chaos erupted after a man who was amongst the crowd accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of murdering his relatives during Gukurahundi, prompting other people in the crowd to call for an immediate inquiry into the Matabeleland disturbances which according to various reports, killed more than 20 000 civilians.
They said it was not just for government to commission an inquiry of the killing of six people ahead of a genocide which claimed thousands of people in Matabeleland, now famously known as Gukurahundi.
Individuals grabbed chairs, fist fighting and formed a mass crowd in the room, after which at least five individuals were arrested by armed police who had come to maintain security.
Members were heard screaming, “What is happening here is abusing us here in Bulawayo, other members are being taken away by cars. We do not even recognize these cars as police vehicles, we do not know where they are taking them,” outside of the event.
“This is not a free government,” chanted the crowd outside the chaotic building.
The commission, which was sworn in by Mnangagwa in September, adjourned the meeting with plans to reconvene at 2pm but proceeded around 3pm.
Before the violence, representatives of various political parties were in the process of making testimonies about the circumstances surrounding the killings of protesters in Harare.
Presia Ngulube, Vice President of Mthwakazi Republic Party said the inquiry, intended to be a space for people to express their opinions, was in fact not a space for free expression.
“This commission is not here [to listen] for people’s views because we know that people are not supposed to be arrested when they are here to speak their views,” Ngulube said.
“This shows that we have to leave some information unsaid, this is what as people of Matebeleland we are fighting against, until when will our issues and complaints go unheard because when we try to speak we get arrested,” she added.
In giving his testimony, MDC-Alliance politician Felix Mafa Sibanda said the commission is disturbing Zimbabwe.
“This commission is dangerously disturbing Zimbabwe because since 1980 Matabeleland has not enjoyed peace,” Mafa said.
He said today the commission delayed by one and a half hours yet causing another anxiety in citizens of Bulawayo, citing demonstration as a people’ s right enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Mafa said the question that should be answered by the inquiry is “who deployed the army.”
“The force applied by police and soldiers was inappropriate,” Mafa said.
