MDC Alliance Attacks Govt, Dismisses Claims of Youth Assembly, Senior Management RiftThe Movement for Democratic Alliance the party’s Youth Assembly is united contrary to reports of a rift between some members and the leaders of the opposition group led by Nelson Chamisa. In a statement, MDC Alliance Youth Assembly national spokesperson, Stephen Sarkozy Chuma, dismissed as “false and malicious rumours propagated by the cornered regime of Emmerson Mnangagwa that suggest that there are divisions within the People’s Youth Assembly.” Chuma said unfortunately, some media houses have been “deceived by this circle of lies and have amplified them. “To begin with, the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly is a structure of the MDC Alliance. Our existence and conduct are anchored on the party's Constitution and to that effect: we do not subscribe to violence or tolerate it in any shape or form. There has been a deliberate plot to taint us as a divided unit with some unfounded allegations that the Assembly is somehow at war with fellow Management members.” He said these allegations are not true “and it is the work of enemies of change agenda who have always been at war with progressive young people.” Chuma claimed that “we are aware that after failing to dampen our spirits through arbitrary arrests, pre-trial detentions and convictions, the desperate regime is at war with the Assembly. Ours has always been a struggle of peaceful resistance. “In this regard, we want to assure the nation that the Youth Assembly is united, getting stronger and firmly committed to the completion of the democratic agenda. Ours is an Assembly of ideas and progress to secure a more just future for the young people of Zimbabwe. Any name-dropping and agenda-setting contrary to the official communication from the Assembly is the work of a cornered regime that is panic-stricken.” Recent press reports indicated that the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly is in disarray following the arrest of some of its members. One of the party youth, Makomborero Haruzivishe, was recently locked up for inciting violence. The state claimed that the 28-year-old blew a whistle to alert opposition protesters to pounce on police during a protest in February last year. His attorney said only circumstantial evidence was used to convict him of inciting violence and resisting arrest. Chuma said, “We reiterate our call for the immediate release of Makomborero Haruzivishe who continues to be persecuted for standing with the oppressed and demanding accountable government. The people will overcome.”