EDITORIAL COMMENT: Zimbabweans must refuse to be used by merchants of violence

Four people, one of them a police officer, died in Monday’s terror attacks that saw more than 30 vehicles being burnt and a number of innocent civilians being assaulted by hooligans during an orgy of violence organised by the MDC Alliance and foreign agents.

Constable Maune of ZRP Entumbane, Bulawayo, was stoned to death in cold blood while three other fatalities were recorded in Chitungwiza and Kadoma.

Several other individuals were injured after being attacked by hooligans who barricaded roads and extorted money from motorists.

A number of shops especially in the western suburbs of both Bulawayo and Harare were looted and in some cases after cleaning the retail outlets, the criminals burnt down the buildings in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, working with some Non-Governmental Organisations and the MDC Alliance called for the three-day protests which were disguised as demonstrations against the recent increase in the price of fuel when infact they were meant to make the country ungovernable hence the orgy of violence witnessed since Monday.

Most of the shops that were looted had closed when the protests started and it seems the police officers were overwhelmed by the numbers of criminals involved in the looting and destruction of property.

Most shops in the western suburbs of Bulawayo are now empty and infrastructure has been destroyed by the hooligans who were also torching vehicles they came across.

The western suburbs have been barricaded and it is now difficult for residents to leave or return to their homes as a result of the barbaric acts of these marauding youths who are being used by political malcontents.

What happened during the past three days has worsened the plight of the people whose interests the organisers of the violent demonstrations are purporting to champion.

Breadwinners of many families who were working in the looted shops are now jobless and many of the affected operators have to start from scratch which means residents will go for long periods without services.

It is unfortunate that Zimbabweans have accepted to be used by the merchants of violence whose objective is to effect a regime change.

President Mnangagwa has already warned the nation that the road to recovery would be bumpy in some cases hence the need for people to be patient.

The prophets of doom that are organising these violent demonstrations are deliberately lying to people that change can be achieved overnight.

It is a fact that the violent demonstrations were timed to besmirch Zimbabwe’s human rights image at a time President Mnangagwa is on a five-nation tour of Eurasia and Switzerland.

We want at this juncture to appeal to Zimbabweans to exercise restraint and guard against being used by selfish individuals who relish their suffering.

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