The Nelson Chamisa led MDC-T has postponed its 19th Anniversary celebrations that were slated for this Saturday 15 September 2018 due to the Cholera outbreak in some parts of Harare. The opposition wanted to use the occasion to “inaugurate” Nelson Chamisa as the people’s president.
The Anniversary rally will go ahead on a later date to be advised. The venue will remain Gwanzura stadium. MDC-T accused the Zanu-PF government of abusing the cholera outbreak for political purposes and said the ban of their commemoration event is not out of a genuine concern of the spread of this outbreak. In a statement the party’s Secretary for Information and Publicity Jacob Mafume said:
It is clear that the government is abusing the cholera epidemic for political purposes and put into serious doubt that the ban of our commemoration event are out of a genuine concern of the spread of this outbreak.
This is clear for various reasons:
1. The fact the government has declared a fake state of emergency in Harare – declaring without gazetting
2. ZRP issues a letter of permission yesterday around 10:30 am only to withdraw it after seeing the record street crowds that lined the streets of Glen View to greet the people’s President Chamisa.
3. The government cannot claim an epidemic that affects only specific events. If this is truly a serious situation, it would be important to close all areas where large crowds meet, including schools, football matches etc.
4. The deployment of military helicopters yesterday indicates that the government is more concerned about politics than it is about Cholera.