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ZANU PF thugs assault MDC-T House of Assembly representative for St Mary's
Youth Agenda Trust
June 04, 2010

ZANU PF youths and hired youth militias severely assaulted and injured St Mary's Member of Parliament, Hon Marvelous Khumalo at a public meeting convened by the Youth Agenda Trust at New Ambassador Hotel yesterday evening. Five other youths from the MDC youth assembly also sustained serious injuries with Lee Ncube being admitted to the Avenues Clinic in Harare throughout the night. The public meeting which was carried out under the theme: "Young people and the constitution making debate; possibilities for a free and fair election in May 2011" was meant to solicit views and opinions from young people with different political affiliations and ideologies on the impact of the challenges facing the constitution making process to date on the elections which may be held in May next year. The thugs had been mobilized by Cecilia Chivhunga the ZANU PF Youth League Deputy Spokesperson and were paid by Tongai Kasukuwere a high ranking member of the Zanu PF Youth League and also young brother to Saviour Kasukuwere the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenization and Empowerment who is well known for financing terror groups across the country.

The meeting was chaired by the Youth Agenda Trust Board Secretary and Coordinator of the Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe (SCMZ), Innocent Kasiyano and drew speakers from the following organizations, Hon Marvelous Khumalo (MDC MP for St Mary's); Cecelia Chivhunga (ZANU PF Youth League Deputy Spokesperson), Maddock Chivasa (National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) Spokesperson), Rudo Chigudu (Young Women Leadership Initiative - YOWLI) and Donald Charumbira the (Chairperson Zimbabwe Youth Council - ZYC).

The ZANU PF youths together with their notorious hit squad from Mbare (known as Chipangano) stormed the meeting venue just before the presentation from the NCA Maddock Chivasa. Proceedings had to come to a standstill for close to fifteen minutes as the rowdy ZANU PF youths and hired militias started singing liberation war songs and dancing in the conference room in efforts to refrain Maddock Chivasa from making his presentation. Honorable Khumalo's presentation did not last a minute as the same youths jumped to the panelist's table and in a typical mafia like style more bused thugs stormed the conference room and started to assault Hon Marvelous Khumalo and other MDC youths who were showing solidarity with him. In a clear act of connivance, a military officer clad in military police uniform suddenly appeared and immediately arrested Hon Khumalo alleging that he had insulted the office and personality of the President. He was then detained at Defense House where he was interrogated with military and other state security personnel. Meanwhile Hon Marvelous Khumalo who was later released late in the night is currently recuperating from the sustained in juries.

The Youth Agenda Trust continues to condemn such acts of hooliganism, thuggery and utter disrespect of the right to freedom of speech and assembly by ZANU PF youths and their masters. Such acts of unprecedented madness where an elected Member of the House of Assembly is denied the right to express his views at a public forum sends clear signals of the unwillingness to reform and the lack of accommodation of divergent political thinking in the current ailing political transition. The ZANU PF youths has over the years gained negative media limelight for disrupting civil society meetings and government programmes. The disruption of the all stakeholders constitutional conference and the recently aborted National Healing conference are some of the recent examples highlighting the notorious behavior of ZANU PF youth militias.

Meanwhile the Youth Agenda Trust urges the inclusive government to speedily introduce the necessary reforms which shall guarantee the unhindered operation of civil society and the respecting of people's basic freedoms. Free and fair elections, a peaceful and democratic society where all Zimbabweans are regarded as equals and are free to enjoy their God given rights to freedom of speech and assembly will never be possible in such an environment where the law remains blind to such injustices. On this note and in conclusion the Youth Agenda Trust therefore calls upon the law enforcing agents to bring to book these culprits who disrupted a legally sanctioned meeting and assaulting a respected parliamentarian and innocent young Zimbabweans in the process.

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