The
Bulawayo
gathering,
titled “Constitutional
Crossroads:
Citizens
Respond
to
Zimbabwe’s
Constitutional
Crisis” was
shut
down
when
police
officers,
Zanu
PF
supporters
and
hired
bouncers
stationed
themselves
at
the
entrance
of
the
Bulawayo
Club,
preventing
journalists
and
invited
guests
from
entering.
Police
vehicles
were
also
seen
parked
outside
the
venue.
The
meeting
had
been
expected
to
feature
prominent
political
and
civic
figures,
among
them
ZAPU
leader
Sibangilizwe
Nkomo,
war
veterans’
representative
Ethan
Mathibela,
opposition
politicians
Prince
Dubeko
Sibanda
and
Lovemore
Moyo,
Mfulongatshi
Mpofu
of
the
Mthwakazi
Republic
Party,
Patrick
Tayiya
of
the
Democratic
Official
Party,
and
activists
Mbuso
Fuzwayo,
Thando
Gwinji,
Samkeliso
Tshuma,
Benon
Ncube
and
Silenkosi
Moyo.
Hours
earlier,
the
Southern
African
Political
Economy
Series
(SAPES)
Trust
offices
in
Harare,
where
a
parallel
event
was
scheduled,
were
gutted
in
a
suspected
arson
attack
shortly
after
midnight.
According
to
organisers,
unidentified
men
hurled
petrol
bombs
into
the
building,
destroying
the
seminar
room
where
the
press
conference
was
due
to
take
place.
The
assailants
reportedly
abducted
the
night
guard
and
locked
the
property’s
gates
with
new
padlocks
before
fleeing.
Later
in
the
morning,
another
fire
broke
out
at
the
Highfield
home
of
Gilbert
Bgwende,
a
member
of
the
Constitutional
Defence
Forum,
deepening
fears
of
a
wider
campaign
to
intimidate
voices
critical
of
the
government.
The
Harare
press
conference
was
to
be
addressed
by
opposition
and
civil
society
leaders
including
Job
Sikhala,
Tendai
Biti,
Jacob
Ngarivhume,
and
Jameson
Timba.
They
were
expected
to
condemn
what
they
describe
as
a
Zanu
PF-driven
attempt
to
unconstitutionally
extend
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
term
beyond
2028.
The
developments
come
just
weeks
after
the
ruling
party’s
annual
conference
in
Mutare
passed
a
resolution
directing
Parliament
to
consider
legislative
amendments
allowing
Mnangagwa
to
remain
in
office
until
2030,
a
move
that
has
triggered
widespread
political
and
public
backlash.
In
a
strongly
worded
statement,
the
Zimbabwe
Communist
Party
(ZCP)
condemned
the
bombings
and
blockades
as
“cowardly
acts”
and
“an
assault
on
the
working
class
and
peasantry’s
right
to
organise
and
express
themselves.”
“The
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police
must
immediately
investigate,
arrest,
and
prosecute
those
responsible,”
the
ZCP
said.
“The
working
class
and
peasantry
have
every
right
to
engage,
assemble
and
speak
on
matters
that
affect
their
lives.”
The
party
also
rejected
the
proposal
to
extend
Mnangagwa’s
presidency,
calling
it
“a
manipulation
of
the
Constitution
to
prolong
the
rule
of
a
corrupt
elite.”
“Zimbabwe
is
not
Zanu
PF.
The
power
to
rule
does
not
come
from
a
party
or
a
person
but
from
the
working
class
and
peasantry
whose
labour
sustains
the
nation,”
the
statement
read.
“Two
more
years
will
not
rebuild
Zimbabwe;
it
will
only
prolong
the
suffering
of
ordinary
people.
Our
struggle
is
not
about
personalities
—
it
is
about
class
power.
It
is
a
struggle
between
those
who
produce
and
those
who
plunder.”
The
ZCP
urged
citizens
to
unite
“in
defence
of
their
democratic
right
to
elect
their
representatives”
and
to
“complete
the
liberation
struggle
by
dismantling
the
neo-colonial
and
feudal
systems
that
continue
to
oppress
them.”