The same political situation in February played into March, with a slight
10% increase in recorded violations. 188 cases were recorded in
March, up from the 176 cases in February. The majority of the
violations related to intimidation and harassment (demands for voter
registration slips, forced donations, forced meeting attendances and
forced purchases of party cards by Zanu PF officials) – 113 cases, and
discrimination (the partisan distribution of government aid) – 22 cases.
Cases of outright political violence increased to 25 and largely
remained in the nature of intraparty violence/intimidation within Zanu
PF and the MDC-T. 13 cases of intraparty violence in these two parties
were recorded. Cases of interparty violence on the other hand were
mostly isolated and sporadic skirmishes triggered by external causes.
By province, Mashonaland Central had the highest recorded
violations with 53 cases, followed by Mashonaland East with 31, and
Manicaland with 27 cases.
Zanu PF continued to account for most of the perpetrators, with
the culprits mainly being local party leaders, members or supporters.
No state actors were implicated directly save in two instances: one,
where a government minister was accused of using inflammatory
language at a local rally, and another where a local resident minister
allegedly forced people to attend his rallies with absentees being
threatened. Local traditional leaders on the other hand continued to be
implicated in cases of harassment, intimidation and discrimination, while
War Veterans were implicated in very isolated cases of intimidation.
The victims of intimidation, harassment and discrimination
remained predominantly male and unidentifiable by political affiliation.
The victims of political violence on the other hand could be identified
by political affiliation either as victims of interparty violence between
Zanu PF and the MDC-T or as victims of intraparty violence in the two
parties.
5