Zanu-PF youths will be requested to attend meetings held at ward level. ZimPF is continuing
with their door-to-door campaign during evenings. Another notable event that took place
during the month was the MDC-T march where they protested demanding answers as to what
happened to the US$15 billion said to have disappeared from diamond revenues. In that same
march MDC also demanded to know the whereabouts of Itai Dzamara, a journalist-cumactivist, who has been missing since 9 March 2015.
Highlights:
On 2 April 2016, at a housing cooperative meeting that took place at Parkridge in
Kuwadzana 5 paddocks left many people unhappy after they were not allowed to ask
any question at the meeting. The chairperson, Tauya Mauka, and members of the
committee told people to pay money without any questions. Mauka called a certain
woman, one, Mai Adorable, and instructed her to bring her MDC-T regalia at that
meeting in front of the people and surrender them. Mai Adorable’s MDC-T regalia
were burnt and she was told not to be found on the wrong side again.
From 10-12 April 2016, in Chitungwiza near the Chitungwiza General Hospital,
vendors were ordered to remove all their vending stalls due to President Mugabe’s
planned visit which was supposed to be on 13 April 2016. War veterans and Zanu-PF
youths allegedly destroyed structures and threatened people with assault. However,
the President did not visit the area as had been expected.
On 14 April 2016, after the MDC-T demonstration in the capital some MDC-T youths
from Kambuzuma went beer drinking at the suburb’s Section 3. While there, one,
Brighton Jim and a ward secretary identified as Energy Mafika started accusing each
other of being interested in becoming the next elective councillor for Ward 14. The
altercation got heated and there was shoving of each other back and forth. The two
were restrained by another party member.
On 18 April 2016, vendors in Mbare Musika were ordered to close their markets and
attend Independence Day celebrations. The vendors were ferried by buses to the
venue at the National Sports Stadium.
On 18 April 2016 at Independence Day celebrations ceremony at the National Sports
Stadium, Patson Dzamara - a brother to Itai Dzamara who was abducted on 9 March
2016 from his neighbourhood in Glen View and has been missing since – was beaten
up by state agents for demonstrating in front of the VIP tent. He was protesting his
brother’s disappearance. Dzamara was allegedly forced to drink lots of water, made
to kneel in an uncomfortable position, assaulted with booted feet and fists and later
interrogated at Harare Police Station. He was later admitted into hospital but was
released on the same day.
On 27 April 2016, Zanu-PF party officials in Epworth had a quarrel over documents
which the chairperson had gone to collect from the province. They ended up fighting
in the streets but no arrests were made. These papers are for an exercise which is set
to start soon ‘Simukayi tiwerengane’, where party affiliations would have to be
declared.
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