Harare, (New Ziana) –The Zimbabwe government has warned members of the public about the dire consequences of using social media to incite violence in the country.
Zimbabwe is on tender hooks after calls by social media trolls including war veteran Blessed Geza and his allies for mass protests on March 31 to demand the immediate resignation of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
In a statement on Thursday, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Kazembe Kazembe reminded Zimbabweans of the need to observe provisions of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and the Cyber Security and Data Protection Act on offences relating to electronic communications and materials. Kazembe’s warning comes on the heels of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) pledge guaranteeing the safety and security of all Zimbabweans by ensuring the maintenance of the currently prevailing peaceful environment in the country, which is allowing citizens and visitors to continue undertaking social and economic activities without any disturbances.
“The relevant instruments would be invoked to deal with those who unlawfully engage in transmitting, broadcasting and distributing data messages to any person, group of persons or to the public with intent to incite acts of violence against any persons or to cause damage to any property,” said Kazembe.
“May I, once again, reiterate that anyone who tries to intimidate, threaten, harass or coerce the public to engage in criminal acts will certainly face the full wrath of law.”
Kazembe said the government is deeply concerned about the mobilisation efforts, through social media postings, pseudo press statements and letters by criminally-inclined individuals and groups, inciting peace loving Zimbabweans to engage in unlawful gatherings that interfere with public order.
Warning those fronting the mobilisation, Kazembe said such illegal acts undermine the prevailing security, peace and stability in the country.
“May I reiterate that we have a Constitutional mandate to safeguard the security and territorial integrity of this country and we will not apologize to fulfil that mandate,” he said.
“May I take this opportunity, therefore, to assure the nation and all our visitors that the country’s security services are on high alert to ensure the sustained safety and security of the public.
Zimbabweans and our visitors should, therefore, feel secure and continue engaging in their usual socio- economic pursuits.” Kazembe said the police have made adequate deployments to guarantee an environment conducive to socio-economic development and unhindered movement of people in all parts of the country.
He implored Zimbabweans to continue abiding by the law to effectively contribute towards the country’s attainment of an upper middle income economy status by 2030, encouraging peace- loving and patriotic citizenry to report to the police anyone who incites violence and causes public despondency.
New Ziana
