Opposition protests will be met with firm response – Govt official




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Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting Services, Dr Energy Mutodi, has warned that the firm hand of the government will be used to deal with the planned MDC demonstration. Posting on Twitter, Mutodi said:

MDC planned demo has bn condemned by South African leaders & the whole SADC. Any sensible Zimbabwean will not risk their life taking part in such a futile event. President Mnangagwa is building the country step by step & any attempt to disturb him will be met with a firm hand…

His remarks are a strong redolent of those which were made by Defence Minister, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri and her Deputy, Victor Matemadanda, who recently threatened to unleash soldiers who were trained to kill to squash the demonstration.

These threats were however contradicted by Foreign Affairs Minister, Sibusiso Moyo, who vowed that Soldiers will not be used to crush demonstrations anymore.

Mutodi’s remarks risk reviving memories of August 1, 2018, and January 2019 when the State reportedly deployed soldiers who fired live ammunition on protesters killing a number of them at the same time living scores of civilians nursing gun wounds.

They also coincide with the government’s efforts to reengage the international community which had shunned Zimbabwe over allegations of human rights abuses.

More: Dr Energy Mutodi