PROVINCIAL OUTLOOK
Manicaland
In Manicaland Province, 19 human rights violations were recorded involving widespread political discrimination,
coerced contributions, abuse of traditional authority, and corporate-led displacement, all of which severely
undermined economic and civil rights across multiple communities affecting 851 people (449 women, 402 men
including 2 PWDs). One of the most alarming incidents occurred in Ward 13 of Dangamvura Constituency, where
food aid distribution at Feruka Primary School was conducted in a blatantly partisan manner. Despite
announcements that the aid, comprising mealie meal, beans, and cooking oil, was intended for all ward residents,
those without ruling party membership cards were excluded, in a process overseen by ZANU PF officials. In a
similarly gross abuse of power, Chief Marange sent a delegation of 15 individuals to threaten a local family for
resisting the unauthorised use of their farmland by trucks servicing infrastructure works. The family was intimidated
and told to surrender access to their land, with no due process or compensation, reflecting the ongoing erosion of
land rights in the province. Across multiple wards, residents were coerced into donating 10 kilograms of maize or
traditional grains as a supposed token of appreciation for government agricultural inputs, with village heads, party
activists, and traditional leaders enforcing compliance under threat of exclusion from future programmes. In
Mutare North’s Heimat Village, even individuals who had not received government inputs were pressured to
contribute grain, exposing the exploitative and arbitrary nature of the scheme. These violations collectively
illustrate how political and economic elites, in collusion with traditional authorities and corporations, are exploiting
communities by denying them food, land, and equal access to public resources based on partisan affiliation or
corporate interests.
Mashonaland West
A total of 13 human rights violations were documented in Mashonaland West, affecting 597 individuals (119 women,
478 men including 9 PWDs), with violations ranging from forced evictions, coerced economic contributions, to the
repression of peaceful assembly. One of the most alarming incidents occurred in Kadoma, where over 400 men
attending a wellness conference were forcibly dispersed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police despite prior clearance
for the event. The police cited inadequate sanitation facilities as justification for the shutdown, even though the
gathering was held at a church venue that regularly accommodates larger congregations. The event, organised by
an opposition Member of Parliament, was non-political in nature, and its disruption illustrates the selective
enforcement of public order laws, blatant political profiling, and the violation of citizens’ rights to peaceful
assembly, access to health information, and freedom of association. In another violation in Kariba Urban Ward 2,
five cabins built by residents on formally allocated stands were demolished without notice by local council
authorities. Across parts of Zvimba West, particularly in Padzarandora Village, villagers were forced to contribute
10kg of maize to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) as a repayment for receiving agricultural inputs under
government schemes. These demands were issued following meetings between traditional leaders and authorities,
with no regard for the prevailing food insecurity. This practice represents a coerced economic obligation,
disproportionately affecting already struggling rural households and violating the right to food and fair access to
public support. These cases reveal a troubling trend of rights violations in the province, where citizens face
exclusion, intimidation, and deprivation of services or protections based on political alignment or socio-economic
status. The weaponisation of traditional leadership, uneven application of the law, and use of state institutions to
suppress civic space all point to systemic governance failures. The Zimbabwe Peace Project calls for urgent
reforms to ensure that housing, food aid, and civic gatherings are protected from politicisation, and that all
citizens enjoy equal treatment, legal protection, and access to basic services without fear of reprisal or
discrimination.
12