BANKET – Residents from the farming community in Banket, Mashonaland West Province are living in fear of young members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) who have set up a new office in the town, Nehanda Radio can report.
Residents who contacted Nehanda Radio say they are being terrorized by officers from the spy agency who have taken over roles of the local authority and police in the area by terrorizing vendors and pirate taxi operators for operating from undesignated vending and parking areas.
“A lot of people have fallen victim to these overzealous security state agencies who have gone beyond their boundaries as they now dictate to us where we should be doing our vending something we have been engaging the council over but these guys have been beating us up and destroying our products saying we are at undesignated areas whilst the council collects vending fees from us” a vendor who requested anonymity for fear of victimization said.
The spy agency is reported to have set up a new office in the area which has been marked as an opposition hotspot where a number former Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members were once abducted and tortured in the early years of the opposition party.
The area was also in the news when a toddler was also part of those abducted making him the world’s youngest political prisoner during the era of the late President Robert Mugabe.
Banket is considered to be a breeding town for the opposition.
“The establishment of the spy agency in Banket has created a lot of problems for us as these guys have become the law unto themselves that even the police are being instructed on what to do and what not to do and many people have been a victim of these operatives ” a local resident said.
“We are not sure if the abuse we are facing from the CIO is a way of introducing themselves that they are present in the area or its a way of instilling fear to members of the opposition in the area because many people have been beaten by these people either for vending on undesignated places or for wrong parking or touting we are not really sure of their motive as these are not part of their duties,” another resident said.
“In the past we only heard about people being beaten usually in the bottle stores when a member of the presidium is slated to visit or would be passing through Banket but these are now regular occurrences and people are now afraid when they see these guys passing by as we have witnessed many people being beaten and injured by these them” he said.
Tracy Zamuchiya a human rights lawyer said she had received at least three cases of human rights abuse violations at the hands of the spy agency with some of the victims growing cold feet in pursuing their cases a sign of continued intimidation according to the lawyer.
“We have noticed an increase of human rights abuse by state security actors in Banket where the victims would be accused of various by law flouting which is the jurisdiction of the local authority and whilst we have been preparing to get justice for some of the victims some of them suddenly withdraw in clear testimony of continued intimidation ” Zamuchiya said.
Zamuchiya said the local police have also been intimidated with the spy agencies pointing to the police’s corrupt activities every time they would want to entertain complaints from those who would have been accused by the spy agents.
“We are no longer even comfortable to freely enjoy our time in local drinking places when these people appear as they are now easily recognized that when they just enter a public place you will see people leaving in a huff” one victim said.
Residents fear of political torture has also been increased with reports that the town is also home to a base of officials from the military intelligence department who had similar accusations leveled against them before the members accused of terrorizing people were transferred.
Retired Brigadier General Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi who is now the CIO’s Deputy Director General has a home in the area.
