JUNE
For the third month in a row, the Zimbabwe Republic Police(ZRP) and the Zimbabwe National Army
(ZNA) contributed the highest number of perpetrators and this is largely due to the way the two
institutions have approached the enforcement of lockdown regulations.
“The soldier just started hitting me with the butt of his gun, accusing me of not having adequate papers
to travel into the city centre…” narrated one resident of Harare.
This incident is not isolated. ZPP has recorded 101 cases of harassment and intimidation, 29 cases
of assault and 27 cases of unlawful detention, and most of these have been under the pretext of
enforcement of lockdown regulations.
The police and the army contributed to a combined 58.2 percent of perpetrators of human rights
violations.
While the figure is lower than last month’s 63.46 percent, it still presents a worrying trend as it speaks
to the continued use of the State security agents to commit human rights violations.
Harare, once again, had the highest number of violations at 82, followed from a distance by
Masvingo’s 30 cases and Mashonaland Central’s 28 and Midlands’ 26.
The continuing trend of the police and the army being the chief perpetrators of human rights violations
confirm that this is not just isolated incidents, but rather, a systematic and unfortunate regression of
Zimbabwe into fully fledged repression, where citizens live in fear of the same agents they should look
up to for protection.
Apart from the repression, the economic crisis has gone full circle, and in the month of June, exactly
a year after the Finance ministry reintroduced the Zimbabwean dollar, the local currency virtually died
after government announced they would be paying civil servants up to US$75 to cushion them from
the ravaging inflation, which has left the local currency virtually useless.
The war between government and its workers continues as labour unions have demanded full US$
salaries of up to US$500.00.
3Government, which this month was implicated in high level corruption that led to the arrest of the
Health minister Obadiah Moyo on corruption charges, has not shown willingness to make the lives of
Zimbabweans better.
Moyo is being accused of illegally awarding a US$42 million tender to Drax International for the supply
of Covid-19 drugs and personal protective equipment fully aware the company was not a
pharmaceutical but a consultancy firm.
The informal sector continues to operate under strict restrictions, and civil servants continue to earn
money that cannot buy even a pair of shoes. Furthermore, the promised US$ payments, which are
not going to be given out as direct cash, have not been disbursed. Consequently, in addition to
regressing into repression, Zimbabwe has taken many steps into an acute economic recession that
has impacted hugely on various socio-economic rights.