‘Police commissioner-general, Augustine Chihuri vows to crush any peaceful demonstrations staged against Robert Mugabe’s misrule’

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) strongly condemns the unwarranted attack on the people and the country’s Constitution by the police commissioner-general, Augustine Chihuri.

Chihuri last Friday at a meeting on Public Order and Security Act (Posa), Chihuri in Harare vowed to crush any peaceful demonstrations staged against Robert Mugabe’s misrule and the citizens’ demands for key electoral reforms before the 2018 elections.

The meeting was attended by officers commanding police districts and provinces.

What we find shocking is that Chihuri has chosen to declare war on innocent people and disregard the country’s Constitution.

As the PDP we note that Chihuri has decided to replace Saviour Kasukuwere as Zanu-PF’s political commissar.

However, we urge him to remove his police uniform and join Zanu-PF structures fulltime as it is wrong and unconstitutional for him to shield behind the police force and issue out unguided political statements.

His utterances are clearly from a factional Zanu-PF member who masquerades as the country’s top cop while forgetting that his constitutional mandate is to serve every Zimbabwean in a non-partisan manner and without bias.

Instead of ensuring that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is protecting the people of Zimbabwe, Chihuri has instead turned the ZRP into an extension of Zanu-PF’s security department.Chihuri should be aware that peaceful demonstrations are a right to every Zimbabwean as clearly defined in the Constitution.

The correct facts on the ground are that it is instead the police that are using brute force to quell peaceful and lawful demonstrations.

Unfortunately, hundreds of law-abiding protesters have been injured in the process due to the police’s brutality and terror campaign while an even higher number have been remanded in custody.

The unprofessionalism and abuse of the country’s Constitution by the police was one of the issues raised at the High Court today, when Justice David Mangota, expressed anger over the continued illegal detention of Linda Masarira.

It is regrettable that Chihuri wants to unleash terror on peaceful civilians whose only crime is the demand for the Zanu-PF regime to respect the country’s Constitution and provide jobs.

To address the issues of violence, fear and impunity, the PDP proposes the independence of institutions that protect the security of the person, the rule of law and the judiciary.

Some of these institutions are; the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Human Rights Commission, the Media Commission, the Gender Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission and the ZRP.

#TogetherAnotherZimbabweIsPossible

Jacob Mafume
PDP National Spokesperson