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Mashonaland West
In Mashonaland West, the most common human rights abuses recorded
in the month of August were the violation of the rights to personal
security, freedom of assembly and association and violent artisanal
miners’ conflicts. The main perpetrators in the violations were
individuals aligned to the ruling Zanu PF and officers from the
Zimbabwe National Army. In a sad event, a poorly attended rally
organized by First Lady Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa in Kadoma, saw
vendors and citizens being frog-marched, bused, and assaulted to
attend the rally. Reports indicate that scores of people were assaulted
as army officers forced people to attend the rally. In Hurungwe West,
Hon Mary Mliswa used the same modus operandi of using traditional
leaders to force villagers to attend her meeting. During the meeting, Hon
Mliswa instructed villagers to vote for Zanu PF candidates in the 2023
elections or face unspecified action. She reiterated that opposition
sympathizers and activists were not going to benefit from governmentfunded pfumvudza inputs.
In Muzvezve, Kadoma and Chegutu cases of artisanal miners’ fights
escalated during the reporting period. On 22 August a violent fight was
reported at Mzansi Night Club, a mining syndicate led by a young miner
only identified as Anele attacked a man with a machete. Reports
indicate that the man dodged death by a whisker and was hospitalized
at Kadoma Hospital. Citizens in these mining towns are normally caught
in between crossfires of artisanal miners’ fights. Police officers are
reportedly failing to contain the fights as they attend to crime scenes
hours after reports would have been made.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project
Monthly Monitoring Report