HARARE – Dozens of suspected Zanu PF youths Tuesday stormed a CCC press conference in Harare and stole the opposition party’s branded material in yet another incident of thuggery linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s party.
A group of police officers watched the drama unfold without taking any action.
The media briefing, called by the opposition to expose electoral anomalies and malpractices by the Zanu PF led administration, was held at the Media Centre in the Harare CBD.
CCC officials who include party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere, secretary for elections Ian Makone and his deputy Ellen Shiriyedenga were escorted out of the premises by party security through the emergency door after the rowdy youths had barricaded the main entrance to the building right in the eyes of police officers.
Journalists in attendance had to wait for tensions to die down before leaving the Media Centre while others followed CCC officials out through the emergency exit.
There were no reports of any arrests following the incident.
The militant youths have been identified by some independent sources as members of Zanu PF’s national committee.
Mahere blamed the attack on Zanu PF, adding that the party would not take the bait by the enemy to provoke clashes and trigger some calculated arrests on party activists by a patently partisan police force.
“We are extremely grateful that our security intelligence team was able to counter the attempt by Zanu PF to try and violently attack leaders of the CCC who were conducting a press conference today.
“This was obviously an attempt by Zanu PF, a deliberate ploy to provoke us into violence so that the police would then arrest us.
“We obviously foiled their attempt. We now know their modus operandi and we have created safeguards to counter that.
“No amount of intimidation on the part of Zanu PF will ever succeed in stopping us; they thought that by now they would have a one-party-state and they failed,” said Mahere.
The CCC spokesperson accused police of being complicit with the attack.
“What is even more disappointing is that we have the members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police stationed outside. They are armed yet they could not stop these Zanu PF thugs,” she said.
She was however defiant no amount of provocation or intimidation would deter the opposition from demanding a credible election next year.
“They thought that if they barricaded the entrance and that if they roped in the police to assist them and that if they stole our banner the press conference would not go ahead.
“Now the CCC has constantly stated that we will not be stopped, and that we will not be silenced,” said Mahere.
She said Zanu PF should stop using violence and abuse of the police in a bid to silence political opponents.
The attack on Tuesday follows a pattern of similar acts on CCC campaign rallies in parts of the country with all cases blamed on Zanu PF.
There have been no arrests on perpetrators of the incidents with police constantly saying they were still investigating.
