Zanu PF spruces up voter victimisation

By David Chidende

MUTOKO- Zanu PF is perfecting its intimidation and coercive electoral machinery ahead of Zimbabwe’s next elections, an investigative visit to Mutoko, Mashonaland East province has revealed.

Located 142km North East of the capital Harare, Mutoko has a history of covert violence being met against perceived Zanu PF opponents. Now, tactics seem to have changed. Terror and intimidation are now taking place in an overt, hidden manner.

When this reporter arrived at Mutoko Growth Point, a tranquil and serene atmosphere engulfed the growth point with most people concentrating on tilling their fields and other livelihood chores.

At the Growth Point, a significant number of people could be seen engaging in open market activities such as selling paraffin, vegetables and second hand clothing. On the face of it, they appeared unaffected by the current election talk.

One could almost think that violence and intimidation are now a thing of the past.

But in-depth discussions with people in the villages of Mutoko proved otherwise. Politically motivated intimidation is still rife. Some of the villagers interviewed expressed shocking levels of intimidation which they say is taking place under the cover of deceptive public calls against violence.

Muzondiwa Karimazondo (35) a villager in Mangoma village’s Ward 12, is among the victims of a well calculated psychological and stealth campaign of intimidation currently haunting those deemed to be ZANU PF opponents.

Karumazondo’s ordeal at the hands of soldiers and the police in the run up to the June 2008 Presidential runoff election still haunts him.

His case points to what Dr. Phillan Zamchiya, political analyst and researcher based at Oxford University has called ZANU PF’s well calculated psychological warfare aimed at reaping votes from the violent, torturous campaign of 2008.

Recounting his 2008 nightmare, which is failing to elude his mind, Karumazondo said:

“We were abducted by the Zanu PF youths and handed over to soldiers at Mutoko Centre. There, we were severely beaten, made to roll on the mud and, like fools, forced to continuously pick and drop logs from one point to the other”.

He added: “The memory of that experience still haunts me and I am afraid that the same fate is going to befall many people in this area as we go to the elections.”

Karimazondo’s fears are characteristic of the political mood in Mutoko North and South as the country gears for elections. As this reporter established, village heads are an integral part of ZANU PF’s unfolding strategy.

In Mutoko North’s Ward 12, village heads, Cephas Chinopfumbuka and Herbert Mujanji are working with war veterans and a somewhat disguised youth militia in an overt campaign to instil fear in those who may want to vote against ZANU PF.

Unlike in 2008 when toitoing militias could be seen around Mutoko chanting pro-ZANU PF songs and slogans, they are now disguising themselves as development officers promoting indigenisation and empowerment.

Chiefs and village heads have been roped into the empowerment drive through Community share ownership schemes that have been set up across Zimbabwe. In Mutoko, chiefs, village heads and ZANU PF aligned youths are intensifying the call for locals to be an integral part of the lucrative granite extraction industry.

Apart from being part to the ZANU PF tailored empowerment drive, some village heads are collaborating with war veterans in orchestrating a stealth campaign of intimidation in Mutoko.

A team led by Chinopfumbuka, Taurai Nyamukondiwa, a war veteran, Johannes Mapisaunga and headman Raymond Rutsito is reportedly moving around the village writing down names of suspected MDC-T supporters for unspecified reasons.

“We have been given orders by our superiors in the party to write down and submit names of all MDC-T supporters”, said Everest Mariyapera, a Zanu PF district political commissar in Mutoko.

Another villager, Angeline Mtisi said the people are no longer feeling safe to express views on day to day survival issues for fear of being labelled MDC supporters. “People are being intimidated and are no longer free to support parties other than Zanu PF,” said Mtisi.

She added: “We are not yet prepared for elections and if they are going to be held in this environment, violence is most likely to erupt.”

Investigations in Ward 20, Mutoko South revealed that former Zanu PF District Coordinating Committee chairperson Zephanias Nhidza is threatening known and suspected MDC-T supporters with unspecified action.

A Zanu PF executive who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said the party is targeting all suspected opposition leaders as it prepares for a landslide victory in the elections.

“There will be no torture bases, but we are going to simply fish out our targets from their homes and deal with them in seclusion,” he said.

Another Mutoko, villager Mapengo Mapengo said there are few cases of physical violence and an open victimisation of people. He added that those who perpetrated violence in 2008 are still milling around the community in which they serve as a reminder to what can happen to those who dare oppose ZANU PF.

“While those who perpetrated violence and torture in 2008 are being haunted by what they did, they are still walking freely and their presence cannot help, but create more fear among ordinary villagers”, Mapengo said.

MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora has confirmed cases of victimisation of Mutoko villagers by village heads, war veterans and Zanu PF youths.

“We are aware of the extreme provocation started by Zanu PF and harassment of our members and ordinary people”

“We have engaged JOMIC on the matter, but nothing has been done. We have also reported cases to the police, but no arrests have been made so far,” Mwonzora said.

He added, “We call upon the International Community, especially SADC to reign in on Zanu PF so as to avoid human rights abuse in the run up to elections.”

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo dismissed reports of continuing intimidation as “outright whims of imagination bent on tarnishing the image of Zanu PF.”

“MDC-T is desperate to gain sympathy from their western masters. There is no violence. MDC-T is basing its arguments on beer hall talk, fictitious and non-existent events. If they have genuine cases, why don’t they report to the police instead of rushing to the papers?”, the ZANU PF spokesperson said.

However as observed by this reporter and as Dr Zamchiya’s analysis point to, the ZANU PF campaign of intimidation and victimisation is continuing through more sophisticated and hidden means.