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Resist, Reject and Report Violence, #RRRV2023
Major Highlights
On 14 January, Kudzayi Kadzere, a human rights lawyer representing the arrested 25
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) supporters in Harare, was allegedly assaulted by about
40 riot police officers in Budiriro's high-density suburb. He was reportedly attacked with
truncheons and fists while attending to CCC officials detained at Budiriro 2 Police Station.
As a result of the assault, he sustained injuries, including a fractured hand. The 2013
Constitution and other international instruments, including the African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Rights, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, provide rights to legal
representation and the right of lawyers to do their work freely without hindrance. The
assault of Kadzere thus violated the lawyer and his clients' constitutional rights, and all
police officers involved in the attack on Kadzere, should be brought to book.
On 7 January, Zanu PF supporters accosted villagers and flogged them ruthlessly with
logs for convening a CCC gathering in Murehwa, a Zanu PF ‘stronghold’ in Mashonaland
East. The elderly men and women were viciously assaulted and interrogated for attending
the CCC gathering in Bhunu village. The attack in Murehwa was followed by the blockage
of a bus by suspected Zanu PF supporters, carrying 80 citizens from Caledonia to a voter
registration centre on 12 January. Two CCC activists, Thomas Mugwagwa and Tarisai Jeke
were abducted and beaten up.
On 6 January, the President Emmerson Mnangagwa summoned Parliament to review the
report after receiving the preliminary delimitation report from Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba. The report was laid before the
Senate, and the National Assembly and both Houses appointed an ad hoc parliamentary
committee to analyse it. The committee set out aspects of the report that were of
concern. These included ZEC not using census data correctly to delimit electoral areas, the
use of the adult population rather than the entire population and the lack of consultation
of stakeholders, including traditional leaders. Other concerns included how some electoral
areas had too many voters compared to others and how ZEC had misinterpreted section
161(6) of the Constitution, which states that no constituency may have 20% more or fewer
voters than other constituencies. This misinterpretation led to some constituencies and
wards varying up to 40%. Another concern was that ZEC needed to pay more attention to
physical features, means of communication, and community of interests; hence there was
no justification for altering some constituencies and wards. In Bulawayo Province, the
proposal is that Cowdry Park breaks away from Luveve constituency. According to ZESN,
in Matabeleland North’s Hwange RDC, ZEC used an incorrect average resulting in an
incorrect minimum and maximum threshold. With a registered population of 36 481 and a
total of 20 wards.
January 2023
The Zimbabwe Peace Project Monthly Monitoring Report
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