The violent demonstrations that occurred in January were sponsored by a third hand, a situation that prompted military personnel to intervene in order to bring sanity, Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda has said.

He said there was no way ZDF could fold its arms when some elements were fuelling violence and interfering with other people’s constitutional right to freedom of assembly and association.

Gen Sibanda said this last Friday in an interview with The Herald and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s Current Affairs ahead of the Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations today and tomorrow.

“What happened in January was very unfortunate because we had come out of the election period, things were beginning to work out and we were surprised that some of our people decided to go on a violent demonstration, not only destroying property, but also preventing other Zimbabweans from going about their business as they should,” he said.

“That situation could not be allowed to go on. The Constitution says individuals are allowed to demonstrate, they are allowed to show their displeasure, but in a peaceful manner and without interfering with other people’s freedom.

“When you start destroying other people’s properties and interfering with their freedoms, you are already in violation of the Constitution.

“They were organised, the manner in which they acted showed that there was someone who was controlling them. I do not see any other way that violence could have been stopped. It had to be stopped so that people could go about their lives in a normal way. It is unfortunate that it ended up with some lives being lost, but it had to be stopped.”State media