by Rungano Dzikira
Disguised under the human rights drive, the US is up in arms against the Zimbabwean Government calling for the release of political activists Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume who have been apprehended by the police for instigating violence.
The duo, who have since gained notoriety over the past month for inciting public violence on social media (especially Twitter) advocating for a #31July protest against the State, was arrested by the police yesterday.
The arrest, was of course in line with the Zimbabwean law, as the duo contravened section 187(1) (a) as read with section 37(1) (a) (i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, on incitement to participate in public violence.
Much to the citizens’ surprise, two-faced U.S and EU have been crying more than the bereaved - being at the forefront of advocating for their release.
Startlingly, this is the exact opposite of what has been happening in ‘democratic’ U.S, as President Trump has instead moved in on protesters littering the U.S cities over the two weeks, and even threatened to send in more federal law enforcement officers.
Justifying his deployment of law enforcers, Trump labelled the protesters as anarchists.
“Federal officers have been there three days and they really have done a fantastic job in a very short period of time, no problem. They grab a lot of people and jail the leaders. These are anarchists,” he said.
According to BBC, state leaders have been demanding that Trump remove personnel from Portland, as it was aggravating the situation. The US leader instead, vowed that he would not give in as he wouldn’t allow this to happen to “our cities run by liberal democrats.”
Political analyst, Nobleman Runyanga criticised the hypocrisy of the West questioning why the same transcript which justifies arrest on protesters isn’t used in other States such as Zimbabwe, when protests are concerned.
“This has always been the case with these democrats, which general Zimbabweans fail to appreciate. When the same thing is happening in America, its justified, yet for Zimbabwe, it is termed as human rights abuse.
“The move to apprehend Chin’ono and Ngarivhume instead shows that the Government is being proactive. Instead of waiting for causalities from protests and or even incensed spread of COVID-19 (from gatherings), detaining these two was initiated,” said Runyanga.
Ever since the US’s much favoured horse, the MDC, has failed to deliver regime change in the country, the Westerners have found themselves tagging along with any opposition personality critical of ZANU PF (Pastor Evan Mawarire, Dr Peter Magombeyi, Samatha Kureya, etc) who is willing to be used for their nefarious agenda.
This is not the first time that the U.S has tangled with Zimbabwe’s internal politics.
Recently, the US has been fingered as one of the main funders of the social media hyped #31July 2020 demonstrations, according to a leaked letter by MDC Deputy Youth Spokesperson, Womberaishe Nhende, who confirmed having received funds for participation on the said protest.
