The Zimbabwean parliamentary committee running the country's troubled constitutional revision process has announced the rescheduling Saturday and Sunday of 52 public outreach meetings cancelled in September due to violence, and offered Harare residents assurances that the police will maintain order at the public comment sessions.
Parliamentary Select Committee Co-Chairman Douglas Mwonzora said police gave his panel written assurances they will enforce the law. But VOA was unable to obtain confirmation of this promise from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Mwonzora refused to go into detail on arrangements but told VOA's Studio 7 reporter Patience Rusere that his panel has assurances on public order from the Harare branch of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. ZANU-PF militants were accused of disrupting meetings in Harare as in many other parts of the country.
The Harare Residents Trust voiced skepticism about the assurances offered by the parliamentary committee, however. The group said its members have witnessed the recent deployment of ZANU-PF youth in Harare surburbs.
Harare Residents Trust Coordinator Precious Shumba said such infiltration was seen in districts like Mbare, Glen View, Budiriro and Highfield, which are strongholds of the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change.