By Own Correspondent- Government has maintained its stance and blames opposition leader MDC leader Nelson Chamisa for causing violence during the #Shutdown Zimbabwe.

This is despite that the stay away which later turned out to be violent was organised by the Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).

The government says that its intelligence services have gathered enough evidence to nail the MDC.

Responding to a question by Masvingo Senator Tichinani Mavetera (MDC Alliance) on why the government blames the MDC for the Mayhem, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said:

This country has got intelligence departments and there is nothing which happens without intelligence knowing. There was a threat of regime change, and there was a meeting on November 3 and November 7 at Wild Geese (Lodge) and on January 12 at Belvedere, and there is a record of that report. We would not have enjoyed this peace if we did not have intelligence.

It was an uprising and we saw hooligans looting shops and vehicles being torched, and police on duty were stoned to death and roads barricaded. There was unnecessary loss of life, but government intervened and managed to quell the noise and now we have peace.

The government’s response to the protests has been condemned from different quarters as too heavy-handed. At least 12 people were killed and more than 1 000 arrested.-Newsday