EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
In all this, machete wielding
gangs have resurfaced and this
month, they contributed to
nearly five percent of all
human rights violations and
the spotlight of their action,
Kwekwe, is President
Mnangagwa’s home town.
For the first time in a long
time, Midlands, where Kwekwe
is located, recorded a surge in
human rights violations,
buoyed by the resurgence of
the machete gangs, most of
whom are artisanal miners
loyal to Zanu PF and certain
political figures.
These are the same machete
gangs that pounced on the
opposition Citizens’ Coalition
for Change (CCC) rally that was
being addressed by the party
leader Nelson Chamisa in
Kwekwe, killing two and
injuring over a dozen others, a
day after Vice President
Constantino Chiwenga incited
violence by claiming that CCC
was a little Goliath that needed
to be crushed with a stone.
The incident has since become
one of the darkest of the
increasing violent incidents in
Zimbabwe’s political
landscape.
This month, ZPP recorded a
significant increase in the
profile and scope of the human
rights violations recorded.
So, while in January, ZPP
recorded a total of 55 cases of
human rights violations, the
majority of them were of
discrimination during aid
processes, and in February, the
organization recorded a total
of 70 cases, with the majority
of them being of political
violence that left people
injured or dead.
In all of this, the majority of
the victims, about 89 percent,
are ordinary Zimbabweans,
with nine percent being CCC
supporters.
It is unfortunate that
Zimbabwean politics continues
be haunted by cases of
violence that can be avoided if
Zimbabweans were more
tolerant.
We are also concerned by the
continued partisan actions of
the police, whose mandate is
to serve every Zimbabwean.
ZPP noted the irony that police
managed to send a
considerable amount of
equipment and human
resources to stop a CCC rally
in Gokwe, but failed to send
enough manpower to protect
the legally sanctioned CCC
event in Kwekwe, which was
invaded by the machete gangs.
The Kwekwe incident
happened as CCC activists had
to fend off alleged Zanu PF
supporters who petrol bombed
a tent set up for a rally in St
Mary’s in Chitungwiza.
Police have also contributed to
human rights violations, CCC
supporters were detained for
holding a car rally whereas
supporters of other political
parties had car rallies and they
were not arrested. Police have
also deployed roadblocks in a
bid to disrupt opposition
political activists wishing to
attend rallies of their parties.