25
Manicaland
In Manicaland province, during the month of August, political campaigns
intensified. It was notable that the two visible parties were the
opposition CCC and the ruling party Zanu PF. Zanu PF activists
reportedly adopted an aggressive approach to the campaign, a strategy
to coerce people to vote for their party in the 2023 elections. In ward 6,
Chipinge Central district, they were moving from house to house
demanding national identification document numbers from people who
registered as voters, and in return, one would be given food aid. This can
be classified as vote buying and the purposes of the ID numbers were
still not well explained, but the common view of citizens is fear these will
be used in the electoral process to their disadvantage. Some residents
had since raised a red flag over this conduct. The demand for IDs is not
new the same demands were made in the run-up to the 2018 elections.
This continues to be a worrying trend as it has multiple effects on
residents which includes instilling fear in exercising rights related to
their political choices as well as compromising their voting and political
rights so that they access food aid.
Midlands
In the month of August 2022, the ruling Zanu PF party continued
threatening and intimidating citizens all over the Gokwe North district.
In Gokwe Gumunyu, ward 16, at Tchoda, there was a Zanu PF meeting
convened by Crispen Chiherenge. He allegedly told the gathered
villagers that starting October through to November 2022, people who
supported the opposition CCC were going to be assaulted. He also
stated that female CCC supporters would be subjected to rape and
impregnated. He then ordered those gathered to confiscate CCC regalia
from those found wearing it. The same words were uttered again at
another meeting at Nyamhara, in ward 14 the same day which left
villagers in great fear.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project
Monthly Monitoring Report