By Bulawayo Correspondent
AT least three people were seriously injured when a group of known Zanu PF supporters, armed with an assortment of weapons, stormed the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition annual general meeting in Bulawayo Wednesday before turning tables and viciously assaulting delegates.
They pitched up in the party’s regalia signing trademark Zanu PF songs at about 3:15pm when the organization was about to conduct its elections.
Crisis Coalition spokesperson designate, Obert Masaraure told Newzimbabwe.com that everything had hitherto gone according to the plan until the gang bulldozed their way into the venue of the meeting.
“Before we started our programme in the morning, police officers from the law and order section come and claimed that our meeting was illegal. We told them that the meeting was an internal one which did not need any police clearance. After the explanation, the police officers left the venue,” said Masaraure, who is also the President of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe.
Masaraure said three delegates were injured during the unprovoked attacks which saw the hotel losing valuable property including dinner plates and water glasses at the hands of the marauding gangsters who were chanting Zanu PF slogans.
Some of the delegates also their spectacles during the brazen attack.
“When the thugs attacked us, we immediately phoned police, but the police took almost an hour to respond. When they arrived, we even showed them some of the suspects who were still milling around the hotel, but they took no action. As I speak with you, some are still outside monitoring the situation,” Masaraure said.
He said the despite the attack, the organisation will proceed with its programme.
“We are going to proceed with our programme despite this set back. We are not afraid of Zanu PF. After the meeting, we are going to issue a statement containing all our resolutions,” he said.
Before the disruptions, Masaraure had been unanimously nominated the organization’s spokesperson while Gamuchirai Mukurwa had also been nominated unanimously the organization’s treasurer.
Former Zimbabwe Congress Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Peter Mutasa was set to lock horns with one Samuel Wadzai for the chairmanship.
