The government rejected claims that it always resorts to violence when dealing with protests. This comes after Midlands Senator Morgen Komichi (MDC Alliance) asked Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi if it was the only solution for the government to use brute force against protestors. In response Ziyambi said:
The historical narration by Komichi is untrue. Doctors went on strike and their grievances were resolved and then hooligans started barricading roads and destroying property and now Komichi is saying the country is on fire.
If they did not barricade roads and loot, the country would be functioning in peace. We sent police to work 24 hours arresting those people and now there is peace.
We do not know what other actions the government should have taken other than the actions we took.
The government still insists that it was justified in the manner in which it handled recent protests. Heavily armed soldiers were deployed across the country have they allegedly killed at least 12 protestors, broke the bones of hundreds and raped countless women.