State Media

The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has dismissed media allegations that soldiers deployed in Kadoma and Kwekwe to assist the police in ensuring compliance to lockdown regulations are assaulting civilians.

In a statement issued last week, Deputy Director Army Public Relations Major Alex Zuva said the two incidents that were alleged to have happened in Kadoma and Kwekwe were fabricated.

“There has been of late a systematic and well-choreographed assault on the ZNA which is deliberately meant to soil and chip away the good image and reputation of the same in a bid to make citizens of Zimbabwe despondent, dejected and disaffected with the Government,” he said.

“It is rehearsed media violence to inflame physical violence.”

In the first alleged incident, which allegedly happened on June 17, members of the ZNA are reported to have assaulted civilians at Hammer and Tongues in Kadoma.

A ZNA team tasked to probe the occurrence established that no such place existed in Kadoma.

Major Zuva said no reports of assault by soldiers were made at any police station in the district.

In the other incident that allegedly occurred in Kwekwe on the same day, it was purported that army officers barred Zimra personnel from going into the city centre.

Major Zuva said investigations by the ZNA showed that Zimra’s head in Kwekwe did not face any challenges in accessing her office on the day in question.

The workers denied passage at first, the ZNA said, failed to produce exemption letters at a police checkpoint in Amaveni as required under lockdown guidelines.

When they returned with their letters they were allowed into the city centre without any problem.

Major Zuva urged citizens to be compliant with Covid-19 lockdown regulations, and to ignore blatant and malicious misinformation published by online media outlets.