The Deputy Minister for Defence and War Veterans Affairs Victor Matemadanda on Thursday said that no armoury was broken into during the January riots.
This contradicts the utterances made by Zimbabwe Defence Forces Chief of Staff Major-General Douglas Nyikayaramba who claimed on Wednesday that criminals stole uniforms and arms before going on the rampage, killing and maiming citizens in the suburbs.
Matemadanda was responding to a question from MDC Alliance Masvingo Senator Tichinani Mavetera in the Senate on Thursday. Mavetera had asked:
We have heard allegations that the army armoury was raided and uniforms taken, and that is scary for us as a people.
We want the minister to tell us the magnitude of what happened and where it happened so that we know as a nation that our armoury is in safe hands because at the end we do not want a situation such as that in Somalia where everyone has a gun.
In response Matemadanda said:
I do not have information about an armoury having been broken into. The senator must put his question in writing so that we investigate and see whether any armoury was broken into because armoury is not situated at any special cantonment area.