MDC-T leader Thokozani Khupe has distanced her party from the July 31 anti-corruption protests being mooted by other opposition parties which she has described as untimely given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

In an interview with the Daily News on Sunday, Khupe said the protests being planned by opposition and pro-democracy organisations would be “stupid to risk people’s lives just to make a political statement”.

“The fight against coronavirus (Covid-19) is a collective responsibility and we cannot reverse the gains we have made so far as a nation in combating its spread for political expediency.

“What is there to demonstrate for? Against who? We are not going to be part to that because for us as a party, people’s lives are more important than scoring cheap political goals. It will be stupid for any political party to do that,” said Khupe through her spokesperson Khaliphani Phugeni.

Khupe’s disapproval of the planned demonstration comes after MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa endorsed the proposed July 31 protest which is being spearheaded by Transform Zimbabwe (T.Z) leader, Jacob Ngarivhume.

“We are seeing other people starting their own initiatives. We want to tell you that we will support any democratic initiative that can result in freedom for the people. We will join those initiatives. Even those who are in government and want to work towards freedom, we will support them even the civil servants,” said the MDC Alliance leader during a recent e-rally.

Extracted from The Daily News