PROVINCIAL OUTLOOK
Mashonaland Central
In Mashonaland Central Province, 10 human rights violations were recorded. 335 victims (153 women, 182 men including 1
PWD) across multiple constituencies were affected, with citizens particularly in Bindura South and Guruve North
constituencies, being subjected to forced contributions under threat of exclusion from essential government programs. In
Bindura South, residents of Ward 12 were compelled to pay a 10ZIG fee for Heroes Day commemorations, with village
heads warning that non-compliance would lead to disqualification from receiving government agricultural inputs during
the farming season or food aid in the event of drought. These contributions were demanded without transparency,
accountability, or consent, violating the right to freely access public services without political or financial coercion.
Similarly, in Guruve North, households across several wards were forced to contribute US$1 per household towards
development projects in Ward 19 under false pretenses with village heads collecting the money and misrepresenting its
use, using it for construction of a storage warehouse for inputs, an act constituting fraud and a breach of the right to
economic justice. In a particularly grave violation, a woman and her child were assaulted at their home in Mandindindi
Farm by a group of 11 individuals linked to the ruling party. The region also experienced violations of the right to
education, as learners at Nyachuru Primary School, a Salvation Army institution, were turned away due to unpaid fees,
contrary to national education policies that emphasize universal access. Collectively, these incidents underscore a
pattern of rights violations where access to education, food, land, and public participation is undermined by coercion,
exclusion, and abuse of authority.
Mashonaland East
Matabeleland South
9 human rights violations were documented in Mashonaland
A total of 10 human rights violations were documented
East Province, affecting 348 people (153 women and 195
across parts of Matabeleland South, affecting 27
men). The reported cases illustrate a continuing trend of
people (18 women and 9 men). In one incident in
politically
evictions,
Umzingwane, a male victim was seriously assaulted by
discriminatory access to public services, and violations of
an artisanal miner using an axe. The victim sustained
socio-economic rights. A particularly concerning case
serious injuries, however despite a police report being
involves threats of forced displacement of villagers in
made, no arrest has been made. Other violations
Murewa North Constituency to make way for a large-scale
related to the use of force by members of the
mining operation. In this community, villagers, who rely
Zimbabwe Republic Police where they forcefully
entirely
confiscated wares of vendors even after they had
motivated
on
intimidation,
subsistence
farming,
forced
have
received
no
communication regarding compensation or relocation. In
collected
another violation, villagers in Mutoko South Ward 26 were
Gukurahundi community hearings have been ongoing.
subjected to explicit death threats for expressing political
In Matobo South during the Gukurahundi hearings
preferences. Statements made during this gathering
chaired
conveyed the idea that the ward “belongs” to the ruling
members, mostly women, gave testimony, with many
party, effectively threatening those holding alternative
women recounting experiences of abuses during the
political beliefs. The other violations documented include
1980s massacres. The hearings highlight the gendered
politically motivated discrimination in aid distribution. These
brutality of the historical atrocities and the long-
cases
resources,
standing silence surrounding such violations. Survivors
and
the
were reportedly asked to state what kind of redress
weaponisation of public services for political control. From
they wished for. While the process appeared more
threats of eviction to denial of medical treatment, these
neutral than previous sessions, free of political regalia
violations show how communities in Mashonaland East are
or slogans, there remains deep uncertainty about
being systematically denied their basic rights, undermining
whether
trust in public institutions and entrenching fear and
meaningful reparations, justice, or state accountability.
exclusion.
The emotional toll and vulnerability of victims who
reveal
marginalisation
politicisation
of
vulnerable
Report
Human Rights Violations
of
state
populations,
fines.
by
Contextually
Chief
these
in
Nyangazonke,
public
testimonies
the
16
will
province,
community
lead
to
continue to wait for redress decades later are stark
reminders of the persistent failure to guarantee justice
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for historical human0774883406
rights violations.
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