OCTOBER 2022
4.4 Hate Speech
ZPP recorded several incidents in which political bigwigs used hate speech
during campaign rallies. The former Minister of State for National Security in
the President's Office Owen 'Mudha' Ncube, while addressing a Zanu PF
campaign rally in Mberengwa said, "You have been told that 2023 will be
worse than 2008. We will not just leave you while you are selling out. Even
during the liberation struggle, there were sell outs but they were dealt with".
Notably, Ncube was fired as State Security minister in January this year for
'improper conduct' and fanning violence during Zanu PF's provincial
elections. The increased use of hate speech puts the country at risk of
another violent and bloody election. In the recently ended elections in
Kenya, fearing a politically charged and violent election, the National
Commission for Integration and Cohesion launched a National Plan against
Hate language and listed banned words for their hateful implications. They
also gave Facebook a 7-day ultimatum to comply with hate language
regulation.
ZPP recommends the government adopts the following interventions to ban
hate speech at political rallies or media spaces;
4.4.1 Political parties and players desist from the use of hate speech during
campaigns and rallies.
4.4.2 Perpetrators of hate speech should be held accountable
4.4.3 The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the National Peace and
Reconciliation Commission and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission have a
responsibility to bring sanity where hate language continues to be used as it
is a violation of the Electoral Act.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project
Monthly Monitoring Report
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