#PROVINCIAL OUTLOOK
Harare had the highest number of
national assembly seats that were
being contested for in the byelections held on March 26
making the province a hotspot for
political violence. This is why the
province had 16 cases of
politically motivated violations,
the highest across all provinces.
The campaign trail turned nasty
as members of CCC were the
targets of Zanu PF and the police
Wearing the CCC yellow colours
became a crime as police went on
to arrest dozens of CCC
supporters in March as yellow
became the new red.
After being arrested, the CCC
activists were accused of a litany
of dubious crimes, among them,
holding car rallies, or disorderly
conduct. The highlight of the
month in Harare was the arrest
and assault by police of popular
CCC activist Godfrey Karembera
popularly known as Madzibaba
Veshanduko.
Other cases recorded in Harare
include the following:
The Douglas Mwonzora led MDCT barred and harassed journalists
who were trying to access the
party’s rally venue at the
Zimbabwe Grounds on 13 March.
Mashonaland Central province
remained a political hotspot of
human rights violations. There
was an increase in the targeting
of opposition supporters ahead
of the March 26 by- elections in
Bindura, Mazowe and
Muzarabani. In Bindura South,
suspected Zanu PF youths
burned a house belonging to a
Journalists told ZPP the party’s
security teams kept journalists
outside the venue for hours and
when they were eventually let in,
the security teams went on to
further bar the journalists from
taking images.
Zanu PF youths led by Den Judge
Marufu of Section 3, Kambuzuma
went around Kambuzuma in Zanu
PF party regalia defacing CCC
posters and replacing them with
their own.
Former Harare mayor Herbert
Gomba who was reported missing
for two days walked into a police
station on 15 March and was
arrested on charges of violating
the electoral law. Gomba is being
accused of registering 12 people
at his parents’ Glen Norah home
and he spent two days in
detention before getting bailed
out. The charges come after a
pressure group, Pachedu, exposed
the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission of moving voters
from their polling stations
without their consent and
knowledge as is required by law.
This is likely to be a cover up to
the embarrassing expose.
Police arrested Chitungwiza Ward
15 CCC candidate Jabulani Mtunzi
CCC Ward 18 aspiring councillor
Oswell Shambare. In Mazowe
North CCC chief by-election
agent for Ward 2, Andrew
Makome and his wife were
attacked at Chaona Shopping
Centre by suspected Zanu PF
supporters. The perpetrators
reportedly used logs and axes.
at the behest of his Zanu PF rival
candidate in the ward. Mtunzi was
accused of pasting his campaign
posters near an open space where
the Zanu PF candidate does brick
moulding. At the time of the
arrest, CCC Vice Chairperson and
Job Sikhala tweeted that he had
‘never come across such an
offense’.
Zanu PF Political Commissar Mike
Bimha said the opposition CCC
would not access the State
broadcaster and should utilize
social media to campaign. His
statements were in contradiction
to the Electoral Act, which
dictates that all political players
should have equal access to State
media.
Three Zanu PF youths in
Chitungwiza, led by one Master P
assaulted a CCC activist until he
lost consciousness. His crime, was
that he was wearing yellow CCC
regalia. The 39-year-old victim,
who was beaten up at about 10
p.m., only regained consciousness
at 4 a.m. and crawled home in the
rain. He spent days unable to talk
or walk. The ZPP spoke to his
mother who narrated the ordeal
his son went through.
Bizarrely, after the by-elections,
Zanu PF’s Estina Bunu, who
contested Ward 10 Bindura
North by-elections, on March 26
night, went door to door
demanding mealie meal she had
doled out to voters. She lost to
Cecilia Tsaura of the CCC.