@Shadaya_Knight Mapedza zvemvana here makutiudza how we are supposed to feel for the neighbours who are brutally killing our fellow brothers and sisters.
Armed men accompanied by the Zimbabwean police forced their way into the offices of Prof Lovemore Madhuku’s political party, violently interrupting a meeting and attacking several participants, among them the constitutional lawyer, Prof Lovemore Madhuku.
This attack is deeply troubling for Zimbabwe as it reflects a dangerous erosion of democratic space and shows that even lawful constitutional engagement is no longer safe from intimidation and violence.
When armed individuals can storm a civic and political meeting with apparent impunity, it casts serious doubt on the state of the rule of law and the security of citizens exercising their constitutional rights.
Prof Madhuku is opposed to Constitutional Amendment No. 3, which seeks to extend President Mnangagwa’s term of office and change the presidential term from five to seven years. He has an active case before the Constitutional Court challenging this process.
Targeting him, as the state has now effectively done, sends a deeply disturbing message that this amendment will not be handled through open, democratic engagement where citizens are free to oppose or support it without fear.
When a constitutional lawyer with a matter before the highest court is assaulted and intimidated, it undermines the integrity of the judicial process itself. It shows that power is being asserted through coercion rather than constitutionalism.
Instead of allowing robust debate and lawful challenge, the authorities appear to be repeating the very mistakes that have, in the past, drawn damaging international scrutiny and weakened the country’s global standing.
Heavy handed tactics do not silence controversy, they amplify it. If this process continues in this manner, it will inevitably attract serious international attention and further erode confidence in Zimbabwe’s commitment to the rule of law and democratic governance.
These violent attacks even make it difficult for those who were supporting the amendment to continue doing so publicly, because they expose the reality that this process is not being advanced on the basis of legal principle or genuine constitutional reform.
Instead, it increasingly appears to be driven by intimidation, violence and repression aimed at forcing citizens into submission without honest, open debate.
When support for a constitutional amendment must be sustained through fear rather than persuasion, the legitimacy of that amendment is already compromised. A constitutional change of this magnitude should stand on the strength of its arguments, not on the silencing of critics.
Resorting to coercion does not strengthen the case for reform, it weakens it and deepens national division. If a constitution must be amended at gunpoint, then it is no longer reform, it is a declaration that power fears the very people it claims to represent. You don’t win hearts and minds through violence, you do so through engagement!
WATCH | NCA leader Prof Madhuku and some of his members were reportedly assaulted by officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police at the party’s offices in Harare earlier today.
The reason for the alleged attack is still unclear. The National Constituent Assembly (NCA) is one of the groups that has been publicly opposing the proposed constitutional changes that would extend President Mnangagwa’s term to 2030.
📹@ZwVoice
This is an open letter to Emmerson & several officer bearers.
We wrote this on behalf of Concerned Citizens of Zimbabwe.
Will post another one @ 1pm today & 3pm.
Pasi neZvigananda
Pasi ne State Capture
Let’s Unite and end this on 17 October.
#SaveZim
🚨🔴 Liverpool mantain their focus on Alexander Isak for the final weeks of the summer window.
New proposal, ready to be submitted if Newcastle open doors to the move.
Isak mantains his position; he doesn’t want to play or stay at Newcastle, he wants to leave and join #LFC.