Correspondent|Political analysts have decried the politicisation of the commission of inquiry into the August 1st post-election violence as MDC activists and Zanu PF supporters made up the majority of witnesses throughout the public hearings.
Last week’s public hearings saw MDC activists such as Lovemore Chinoputsa and Islam Madhosi clash with members of the commission whom they accused of being agents of the ruling Zanu PF.
In an interview on Monday, political analyst Alexander Rusero said the commission had become a missed opportunity, as its intended purpose had been forgotten.
“The purpose of the commission of inquiry is not to prosecute but to actually reach the bottom of the matter,” Rusero said.
“There is the involvement of an army that was deployed so it is very critical to know how it was decided to deploy it with firearms loaded with bullets. It is not criminal in any way to deploy the army but when you have an army deployed with firearms it becomes a contentious issue that needs to be unpacked.
“So the whole process of the inquiry is to cultivate or seek national healing and reconciliation but it has actually torn apart Zimbabwe,” he said.
Rusero said it seemed there was no middle ground in a “highly politically charged” society to the point where Zimbabweans no longer knew what they wanted.
“If the president had just kept quiet after six people had been shot, people were going to cry foul now that an inquiry has been put in place again people are crying foul so at the end of the day you really don’t know where this politicking and polarisation will lead,” he said.
Political analyst Valerie Jeche said she agreed with the opposition MDC regarding the lack of impartiality in the commission.
Jeche said although the MDC tended to seek attention she said their concerns about the commission were warranted.
“I think they are justified because the commission is more or less harassing the MDC witnesses while the same treatment is not being given to those in Zanu PF,” she said.
Jeche said she agreed with MDC national spokesperson Jacob Mafume who in a recent article called the inquiry a “sham.”
“It is a sham, what do they really want to inquire? It is quite obvious what happened, people were shot by soldiers so I do not understand what the point of the inquiry is.
“Although they claim it is an independent commission but we have a Zanu PF loyalist in that commission so it’s a sham they are just doing for the sake of doing it but we know the outcome.
“We know that what happened was soldiers were deployed to kill civilians, they are not investigating anything,” she said.
Jeche said although she could not predict the commission’s findings she was certain it would not result in any major upheavals within the current administration.
“It is quite difficult to predict what they are going to do, but at the same time there is no way they will say something that will be incriminating to the ruling party.”
“They will be silent on where the directive came from.”
The Commission of Inquiry was sworn in on the 19th of September and is comprised of three Zimbabweans and four foreign nationals namely Vimbai Nyemba, Charity Manyeruke, Lovemore Madhuku ,Rodney Dixon (United Kingdom) Emeka Anyaoku (Nigeria) General Davis Mwamunyange (Tanzania) and Kgalema Motlanthe (South Africa) .
According to a presidential statement released at the end of August the commission is expected “to report to the President in writing, the result of the inquiry within a period of three months from the date of swearing-in of the commissioners.”
M&T