Respect People’s Rights: Tsvangirai Tells Police Officers
Tsvangirai confronted the senior police officers and told them to respect the rule of law and allow Zimbabweans to exercise their basic freedoms of assembly, movement and association.
Speaking to Radio VOP in Victoria Falls Tsvangirai said he would discuss the deplorable conduct by the police with the co-ministers of Home Affairs and the President.
“The riot police closed St Paul’ Hospital and ordered the nurses to go home, they further went to disrupt a rally were l was scheduled to address the community at St Paul’s Business Centre,” said Tsvangirai.
“The riot police closed St Paul’ Hospital and ordered the nurses to go home, they further went to disrupt a rally were l was scheduled to address the community at St Paul’s Business Centre,” said Tsvangirai.
He said that he is touring government projects in Matabeleland North province and St Paul’s was one of the hospitals in his artillery.
St Paul’s Hospital services more than 18 000 villagers but has no mortuary, no doctor and no maternity ward.
The drama started when three truck loads of 21 police officers heavily armed with guns, teargas, canisters and batons chased away staff and locked up gates at St Paul’s Hospital were the Prime Minister wanted to assess the dire situation at the health centre.
The law enforcement agents further went to St Paul’s Business Centre where the Prime Minister was later scheduled to address a rally. They violently dispersed the crowd, overturned pots of food and threatened to shoot donkeys that had ferried some of the elderly to the rally.
This week, MDC-T has run battles with the police over their banned rallies and the Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khuphe describe their banned rallies as absurd and uncalled for.