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Tendai Mugabe, Harare Bureau
THE MDC Alliance’s Vanguard group yesterday allegedly assaulted over 50 party members demonstrating against the deterioration of democracy in the party after the death of founding leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Tsvangirai died in February this year after a long battle with cancer.

Six people were injured and a docket was opened at Harare Central Police Station under IR No 12023.

The demonstrators were beaten in Africa Unity Square before their planned march to Harvest House.

One of the victims Mr Edwin Dzambara said: “We have been at Africa Unity Square where people had gathered to show their concern to the nation and the world that things are not okay in the MDC Alliance.

The main agenda was to restore the founding values and principles of the MDC which were left by Morgan Tsvangirai whereby a lot of people try to distort and hijack the agenda of MDC and bring in a lot of G40s and Zanu-PF members.

“Quite a number of people came from various parts of the country to demonstrate to the leadership that you have lost track. When people gathered a group of well-known members of Vanguard came from Harvest House and started to beat people randomly. A lot of people were injured and we are taking them to hospital. They have the audacity to beat people before they even march to Harvest House.

“This is why we are saying MDC has lost direction and needs restoration of its founding values. What we see in MDC now is battering of people for any dissenting voice. People are making appointments into the presidium and in all structures without mandate from the people and Chamisa is an illegitimate president who was appointed. He was appointed and now he is making illegal appointments and that does not make sense. He is saying he is fighting Mnangagwa’s legitimacy when he is not even a legitimate president in his own party.”

“Chamisa preaches the gospel of democracy and when he sends vanguards to beat people we shudder to think what he will do as State President controlling the military and the police. Zimbabweans must not be fooled by Chamisa because he is a dictator worse than Robert Mugabe. What he has done so far has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is not presidential material and does not even qualify to be a provincial chairman,” said Mr Worship Dumba.

Another MDC-Alliance member alleged that the members of the Vanguard were paid by Harare mayor Herbert Gomba to beat the protestors.

Clr Gomba could not be reached for a comment.

Efforts get a comment from MDC-Alliance spokesperson Mr Jacob Mafume were also fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable.