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Parliamentarians from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday walked out of parliament as Chenjerai Hunzvi, the leader of Zimbabwe’s liberation war veterans, delivered his maiden speech as an MP for Sadza.
The official ‘The Herald’ newspaper said MDC officials argued that the walkout was not planned, but was a sign of their frustration with Hunzvi’s role in the often-violent occupations of 1,600 white-owned farms since February this year. “People just thought the things he was saying in Parliament were absolute rubbish given his role in the violence,” said MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe.
Meanwhile, Andrew Mhlanga, who led an attempt to oust Hunzvi as the war veterans leader last week, was reportedly threatened by a crowd of about 1,000 when he tried to address them at a meeting called by Hunzvi at the weekend. The state-run television station said Mhlanga had to be escorted by police out of the meeting, which was held at the ruling ZANU-PF party headquarters in the capital, Harare.
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