Gokwe’s anti-Mnangagwa demonstration – ZimEye

By POLITICAL REPORTER – Police have arrested 12 people in Gokwe for allegedly staging a protest against the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front government.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) confirmed that 12 people had been arrested.

The group reportedly expressed opposition to President Mnangagwa and his government, particularly his recent appointment as Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

According to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, suspected members of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) were detained at Chitekete police station in connection with a flash mob protest that took place at Gokwe Centre on August 15, 2024.

Among those arrested were reportedly two wives of Tawanda Siampongo from Gokwe-Kabuyuni constituency, who were detained after police failed to locate their husbands.

In a video that went viral on Thursday, the leader of a group of activists calling themselves Givemore Chuma said:

SADC must not be used to glorify the illegitimacy of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. That is what we, as residents of Gokwe, stand for. We are holding these demonstrations to send a clear message.

For years, it has been known that the Gokwe people are backward, but today we took the first step to send a message that we do not support the awarding of the SADC chairmanship to Mnangagwa.

He must go. No one voted for him to come to power. What lesson does SADC intend to teach the citizens of the region?

It is unfair to reward electoral fraud in this way. We appreciate that Attorney Nelson Chamisa won this election and he is the rightful chairman.

I am not the one who said these words. I am just the spokesperson for Zimbabweans and the people of Gokwe.

If he (Chamisa) cannot take the helm, then we must take to the streets on August 17. Article 59 of the constitution allows us to demonstrate.

The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front has made it clear that power in Zimbabwe will not be transferred through elections. We need a democratic government. The ruling party has failed for the past 44 years.

In a separate incident, ZLHR reported that opposition activist Costa Machingauta was abducted by armed men from his home on Thursday evening.

His lawyers eventually placed him in a holding cell, where he was held and not allowed to communicate with other people.

Machinguta claimed that his minor children were attacked during the abduction.

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