By Own Correspondent| The Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Zimbabwe National Army are set to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into the political violence that rocked Harare on August 1 next month following the adjournment of the hearings.

This was said by the Commission’s chairperson former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe while addressing a press conference in Harare (Friday).

He also expressed the Commission’s gratitude to people and organisations that had availed themselves and provided their testimonies so far.

“We wish to announce that the Commission will today (yesterday), the 19th of October 2018, adjourn its hearings in Harare, thereafter we will conduct hearings on the 26th and 27th of October, 2018 in Bulawayo and Gweru, respectively.

The Commission plans to visit Mutare and to continue with the public hearings in Harare from the 10th of November, 2018. We will be hearing especially from the army and the police then,” said Mr Motlanthe.

He said they had so far received 85 written testimonies, heard 37 oral testimonies from witnesses of diverse backgrounds, written testimonies from 11 organisations and had also carried out site visits to some of the venues where the violence and shootings occured.

Mr Motlanthe reiterated that they would be impartial in carrying out their mandate.

“We were sworn in on the day 19th of September, 2018 and we subscribed to an oath that each and every one of us will faithfully, fully, impartially and to the best of our ability discharge the trust and perform the duties to the best of our abilities.

We therefore want to assure the citizens of Zimbabwe that we will carry out this inquiry in terms of the law,” he said.

The former South African President commended President Mnangagwa for appointing a Commission made up of eminent persons in the interest of transparency and impartiality.

Before the adjournment, the Commission had also heard testimonies from various people on the events that occurred on the fateful day.

Makomborero Haruzivishe, one of the witnesses to the August 1 murders told the Commission that there was need investigate who deployed the army to shoot innocent civilians.

Haruzivishe alleged that the buck stopped with President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is current commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and the Commission should therefore interrogate who ordered the army to shoot.

At least 7 people died on August 1 2018 according to official reports by the Zimbabwe Republic Police although one of the witnesses on Friday said he had seen 8 bodies arriving at Parirenyatwa group of Hospitals on the day in question.

He said his family was outraged by the authorities’ lies that 5 people died of the day and one other died at Parirenyatwa.

“We initially refused to take the deceased and told the hospital to bury our relative because we were outraged that they had doctored the cause of death on his death certificate.

We were later told that the pathologist was Cuban and we wondered is the surname Masango  Cuban?”