Harare – Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that violence in Harare on Wednesday was meant to disrupt this week’s presidential election in the country.
He added that he blamed the leadership of the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), for those who were killed and injured.
“We hold the opposition MDC Alliance and its whole leadership responsible for this disturbance of national peace, which was meant to disrupt the electoral process,” Mnangagwa said, according to state broadcaster ZBC.
Mnangagwa said that MDC should remove its supporters from the streets, ZBC added.
Zimbabwe police said that three people had been killed in violence in Harare on Wednesday, state broadcaster ZBC reported, after opposition supporters clashed with police over this week’s presidential election.
Police spokeswoman, Charity Charamba, said the three people killed were yet to be identified.
“Equally, we hold the party and its leadership responsible for any loss of life, injury or damage of property that arise from these acts of political violence which they have aided and abetted,” he said.
Zimbabwe opposition leader’s spokesman of MDC, Nkululeko Sibanda said that the army’s reaction in quelling disturbances in the capital was disproportionate and unjustified.
At least one person was killed in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare as soldiers opened fire to disperse stone-throwing opposition supporters, who accused the ruling party of trying to rig Monday’s presidential election, witnesses said.
Violence broke out when opposition supporters took to the streets of Harare claiming parliamentary elections results are rigged, in spite the fact that no winner of the presidential vote has yet been declared.
Security forces in armoured vehicles fired live rounds at the crowds.
(Reuters/NAN)
