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(TALKZIMBABWE) Copac process suspended indefinitely

Copac process suspended indefinitely
By: TH-TZG
Posted: Monday, September 20, 2010 7:02 pm

VIOLENCE rocked the Constitutional Select Committee outreach programmes in Harare yesterday with meetings failing to take off while others were abandoned midway as some participants engaged in fistfights.

Skirmishes were reported in Mbare, Budiriro Greystone Park and Dzivarasekwa as supporters of rival political parties clashed at the venues. Ironically, the outreach meetings went on well in Bulawayo with attendance averaging 200 people per meeting.

In Mbare there were skirmishes after some participants sloganeered and displayed their political party symbols.

The incident occurred at Mai Musodzi Hall, where violence erupted in the morning after some participants were barred from entering the venue as they were accused of belonging to rival political parties.

The Copac process has therefore been suspended indefinitely.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Mandipaka said no arrests had been made as they were still carrying out investigations.

"We have received reports of Copac meetings being abandoned and we are still carrying out investigations. Preliminary reports indicate that there were rowdy people during the meetings and we have not apportioned blame on anyone or any political party until we are through with our investigations," said Sup Phiri last night.

A Copac team led by co-chairperson Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana and Gokwe-Nembudziya House of Assembly Member Flora Buka was besieged at Mai Musodzi Hall after announcing that the outreach exercise would be deferred to today to allow tempers to cool down.

Earlier on, violence had erupted leaving two people injured.

Participants then closed gates in a bid to stop Copac teams from leaving and police details in riot gear had to move in to prevent the situation from turning ugly.

People started chanting their party slogans in protest and police had to be called in to restore order.

Mangwana then announced to the crowd that he was rescinding an earlier decision to abort the meeting.

He, however, told the gathering that the team tasked with conducting the outreach consultation had not yet arrived and they were still making frantic efforts to locate it.

It was after he told the gathering to remain vigilant that his entourage moved out of the hall and regrouped at Mbare Police Station for a brief meeting.

By 4.00pm, the Copac team had not yet arrived in Mbare, but people could be seen enduring the blistering heat with riot police monitoring the situation from a distance.

In Budiriro, violence broke out during consultation when one participant was on the floor. The participant was making a contribution on what kind of media the country should have.

In his contribution, the participant castigated pirate radio stations saying they should be banned as they were distorting the poltical situation in the country.

A voice was heard from the crowd heckling the participant that he was a foreigner and this triggered some skirmishes.

About four police details at the venue failed to contain the situation, which went on for more than 30 minutes.

There was exchange of blows in Budiriro with police struggling to contain the situation leading to the abandonment of the meeting.

Zengeza East House of Assembly Member Mr Alexio Musundire (MDC-T) drove off saying he would only return when police beefed up security.

People could be seen coming from beer outlets to make contributions while clutching bottles of beer and visibly drunk.

Mangwana said the 76 meetings in both Harare and Bulawayo did not pose a threat to the constitution-making process considering that 5 500 meetings had been held countrywide.

"The majority of the meetings took place peacefully and yesterday (Saturday) we had 38 meetings and these went on without disturbances," he said.

Outreach teams that were scheduled to cover Dzivarasekwa Extension had also not arrived by 4.00pm.

A local senator was reportedly manhandled during the ensuing melee.

Mangwana went to the venue in Dzivarasekwa and promised to assign a team from Kuwadzana to attend to them.

For some it was business as usual. "What is happening, what are these people doing?" asked a woman in her early 30s.

However, in Highfield, the outreach was going on as planned.

Labels: ANDREW MANDAPIKA, COPAC, MUNYARADZI PAUL MANGWANA, POLITICAL VIOLENCE

posted by MrK @ 6:24 PM