Govt Threatens Harsh Crackdown On Protests During SADC Summit
The Zimbabwean government has accused Western-aligned organisations of secretly funnelling thousands of dollars to opposition elements to stage demonstrations during the SADC Summit scheduled to be held in Harare on August 17, 2024.
In an interview with The Herald, Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications), George Charamba, alleged that the Oppenheimer-funded Brenthurst Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were financing opposition activists to undermine peace and stability during the regional summit.
Charamba warned that those who seek to collaborate with foreign organisations to disrupt the event will be dealt with harshly. He said:
For some time, the Government has been aware of the collusion between the Oppeinheimers’ Brenthurst Foundation and USAID in seeking to subvert our hard-won peace.
What is even more worrisome is that these organisations seem to find willing partners within our country, who previously had a brush with the law.
It would appear they haven’t learnt their lessons. They should know that the Government is not just willing but is capable of delivering to them a lesson that is handsomely appropriate.
It is treachery for a Zimbabwean to collude with a foreign organisation in the hope of undermining the country’s peace, it is worse when the Government considers the organisation hostile.
Charamba said all non-governmental organisations and political actors in the country have been advised to notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade or the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare if they are approached by “hostile foreign elements”.
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