AUGUST 2017
handed to the police. Violence of any form should
be condemned regardless of who perpetrates it.
This has not yielded the desired results as those he
chided have been implicated in more violence in
the party. President Mugabe further worsened
issues by declaring that those who killed white
farmers would not face prosecution. This is likely
to increase impunity among his supporters.
donning regalia that was seen as poking fun at the
‘first family’. Section (61) of the constitution says
every person has the right to freedom of
expression which includes freedom of artistic
expression and scientific research, creativity. The
arrest of war veteran Victor Matemadanda, which
he believes was triggered by a T-shirt ridiculed
First Lady Grace Mugabe is an affront to freedom
of expression. Another Zanu PF supporter Energy
Mutodi was also picked up by police for
expressing his opinion on Facebook. He was
subsequently beaten up by known Zanu PF
activists while on bail.
The majority perpetrators of human rights
violations in August are associated with Zanu PF
in one way or the other 81,2% of the reported
cases).The opposition MDC-T was responsible for
5,9% of the cases. Security agents that include the
police, Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and
Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) were
responsible for a combined 11,4%. War veterans
have not featured prominently as perpetrators in
the last few months. This may be due to the falling
out of the war veterans body with the ruling Zanu
PF party.
Intra-party violence was also recorded in the main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC-T) when Vice President Thokozani Khupe
and other party stalwarts in Bulawayo had their
meeting disrupted by party youths who were
unhappy with her decision to stay away from the
MDC Alliance signing ceremony. Violence
erupted and Khupe had to seek medical attention.
Some high ranking party official celebrated the
political intolerance and attack on Khupe and
party president Morgan Tsvangirai subsequently
suspended party members who were implicated.
Out of the 8 intra-party cases of violence recorded
in August, 7 were recorded in the ruling Zanu PF
party while only one case was recorded in the
opposition MDC-T. This may be due to the
factional succession battles playing out in the
ruling party, which have degenerated into open
conflict heightened during this month by
accusations of ‘poisoning’ Vice President
Emmerson Mnangagwa at a youth interface rally
in Gwanda. It is possible there might have been
more than one case of conflict within the MDC-T
as for most of the other cases there have been
hushed voices and could manifest to haunt the
party in the future.
Heroes Day Commemorations were not a cause
for celebration for many people as they found
themselves being ordered to bankroll the
festivities against their will. The commemorations
which are supposed to be national events have
been usurped by ruling party activists who take
the opportunity to mobilise for their party and in
the process intimidated and harassed unwilling
citizens. Government through the Ministry of
Home Affairs said they do not have a policy of
fundraising for national events from citizens.
However, there were reports that in schools and
other government departments civil servants were
Freedom of expression came under attack as
political activists were arrested for expressing
their opinions on social media or harassed for
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