IT IS disturbing to note that political violence and hate speech are now rearing their ugly after the country counts down to the August 23 harmonised polls.
This comes as authorities say the police are well resourced to deal with cases of political violence as well as to carry out their mandate before, during and after the August 23 polls.
Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe said the ministry of Finance had made sure that law enforcement agencies were well equipped and resourced to ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful and credible manner.
“I can speak with high confidence that as things stand right now, we have resources when it comes to deal with political violence and for police to carry out their mandate so that this year`s elections will be peaceful and credible.
“The Treasury has done a very wonderful job when it comes to equipping our police officers. Police have all the necessary resources that will ensure that there is law and order before, during and after elections.
“At the same time, they are undergoing special training to prepare them to deal with any form of political violence or disturbance that might want to disturb the electoral processes. “
As the ministry of Home Affairs, we are well prepared to ensure that elections are conducted in a peaceful manner,” Kazembe told the Daily News. He said elections were a one day event and people should not be divided regardless of one`s political affiliation.
“What l can assure you is that the police are leaving no stone unturned. They are attending to each and every crime if it is politically motivated violence and the perpetrators will be accounted for.
“There are no sacred cows when it comes to political violence, we want these elections to be peaceful in every way. “President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been calling for peace in each of his addresses. Elections come and go and don’t let politics divide us, after all we are one family, one country and we are all Zimbabweans,” he said.
Incidents of political violence have been reported in some part of the country, recently Gweru Citizen Coalition Coalition for Change (CCC) activist Arnold Mhumhi had his farm burnt down by suspected Zanu PF supporters who allege that he was influencing many youth to join the opposition as the expense of the ruling party. A police report has since been made, but no arrest have been made.
Last yea, Mhumhi he was attacked by suspected state agents when he was coming from a CCC rally.
On his part, national police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said they were prepared to ensure that the elections were held in a credible and peaceful manner.
“We will deploy the police officers one week before the elections as they are currently undergoing training on matters of elections. “I cannot specifically say how many police officers we are training and how many will be deployed on each and every polling station throughout the entire country because of security reasons.
Remember, we will be guided by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) on deploying our officers… “But be rest assured the police are ready to ensure that peace prevails before, during and after the elections. One of the mandates of police officers is to ensure that law and order is maintained in the country,” he said.
All this comes amid rising tensions ahead of next month’s crunch national elections, which have seen the ruling Zanu PF and the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) trading accusations over increasing cases of political violence.