MDC claims Mugabe regime under siege

By Tichaona Sibanda
20 February 2007

The MDC’s deputy secretary for International Affairs, Grace Kwinjeh, claimed on Tuesday that Zanu (PF)’s persecution of the MDC top leaders and their supporters reveals its ruthlessness and also the depth of opposition to its rule.

Gwinjeh said the way the regime violently blocked their rally in Highfields on Sunday shows just how nervous they are. Equally important for the opposition is how ordinary citizens are standing up against police brutality. Last week four police officers were injured in central Harare when an angry crowd retaliated against police beatings.

Since the beginning of the year wildcat strikes for better pay have hit the country, triggering spontaneous street protests and escalating the political tension.

Opposition attempts to organise peaceful demonstrations against Mugabe have been brutally suppressed and freedom of speech and association have plummeted even more than normal since January.

‘The regime has been shaken to its foundations because every other organisation is now defying its authority. By way of protest we are asking them to be part of the solution and not part of the problem,’ Kwinjeh said.

She warned the regime that its brutality will only inflame the situation as disgruntled citizens were no longer afraid to confront it head on. Already doctors, nurses and teachers have taken the lead with a rash of recent strikes that have triggered street protests led by the national constitutional assembly, Women of Zimbabwe Arise and the Zimbabwe National Students Union.

This has set these organisations on a collision course with the government, which relies on the police and army to quash the protests.
But Gwinjeh remained defiant; ‘We have had enough of these arrests, beatings and torture. This is the year we are saying enough is enough and this will also certainly be a turning point in the country’s political landscape.’