Mnangagwa Says Zimbabwe Will Punish People Attacking State Security Agents
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has condemned the brutal attack on members of the security forces Saturday at Chicken Inn Police Base in Chivhu communal lands.
In a statement, Mnangagwa said, “This cowardly and senseless attack aby an assailant on the two soldiers who were enforcing lockdown measures aimed at mitigating the spread of the deadly Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19)) at the police base near the Chivhu Chicken Inn, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms by all peace-loving Zimbabweans.
“Government will not tolerate anyone who attacks, harms or kills any member of the security establishment, let alone disarming and unlawfully taking arms of war in their possession. Any breach of this nature will attract the severest punishment.”
Thirty-year-old Lance Corporal Lorance Mupanganyama of the 21 Reserve Force, Mount Darwin, and Corporal Peter Zvirevo were attacked by Elphas Jani (20) and an unknown assailant at the police base.
According to the Zimbabwean government, Zvirevo is in intensive care at West End Hospital in Harare where he is nursing serious injuries. At the same time, Corporal Stanalious Chiunye, who was part of a team which killed the two suspects, is also at West End Hospital. He sustained injuries in the ensuring gunfire exchange with Jani and the other suspect.
Mnangagwa praised people who tried to assist the injured soldiers in Chivhu.
“The role played by members of the public at the Chivhu crime scene when they rendered help to the injured and took them to the nearest health facility, is highly commendable and exemplary. Their actions were a show of great compassion and high respect for the work our soldiers do to ensure national security and a demonstration of the spirit of Ubuntu that has come to characterize our great nation.”
State security agents killed six people in 2018 when some people protested over presidential election results. Other people were gunned down following protests over fuel price hikes of up to 150% in 2019.