Violence has never been part of our DNA, says Nelson Chamisa

Nelson Chamisa, Zimbabwe’s opposition leader told a recent official inquiry that he never provoked his supporters for the post-election protests on August 1 that killed six people and left several others injured after soldiers opened fire.

Movement for Democratic Change’s (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa lost the July 30 poll to the current President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Though he lost the election battle, he still maintains his standpoint that the vote was rigged and Mnangagwa lacks legitimacy.

During an inquiry investigating the killing of six people, the 40-year old Chamisa said that his party was not a perpetrator but rather a victim of state-sponsored violence.

“Violence has never been part of our DNA. My hands are clean. My conscience is very clear, my heart is pure and my resolve is unbreakable. These hands that you see have not spilled blood. My mouth has never conspired to have a life lost on the basis of political violence,” Chamisa said.

He distanced his party from post-election protests on August and added “the demonstrations could have been hijacked by the ruling party to smear his party.”

The fingers are on Chamisa because former South Africa’s President Kgalema Motlanthe-led commission of inquiry received evidence from security chiefs who directly denied soldiers’ involvement in killing the civilians. They blamed Chamisa for inciting the violence. President Mnangagwa appointed Motlanthe to spearhead a seven-member team to probe into the killings of civilians.