Apparently so threatening to Zanu-PF is the emergence of People First that this month’s
report tells of repeated warnings the ruling party is meting out to its membership in
meetings against the “folly” of joining People First lest they be left out of distributions
for food aid and input assistance.
In more pronounced instances, in Hwedza a group of suspected state agents were
deployed to the area in order to monitor People First movements and progress.
ZPP reports also indicate a coming together to collaborate between Progressive
Democrats Party (PDP) and People First, with the former joining hands with the latter,
something which PDP leader Tendai Biti confirmed to ZPP.
Exorcising Mujuru’s ‘ghost’ is proving to be seizing the ruling party as seen by the
report from Manicaland where Mutare City Council management was targeted wholesale
allegedly on suspicion that they are ‘gamatox’ remnants. (‘Gamatox’ are those
suspected to be sympathetic to Mujuru.)
As Zanu-PF stands itself ready to fend off the People First threat, the ‘traditional enemy,
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) is not forgotten as relentless
discrimination against its members continues amidst partisan distribution of food aid and
input. Against a backdrop of hard hitting El Nino drought which has resulted in three
million facing starvation and scores of livestock dying, hunger is wreaking havoc in the
country. With millions of people facing starvation there is more need for diligent and
equitable distribution of food aid. Sadly this is not so in a number of areas across the
country.
In order to ensure that discrimination against members of the opposition is maintained
Zanu-PF leadership at local levels in a number of areas have taken to displacing and
replacing gatekeepers in distributions of food aid and agricultural inputs. In a number of
instances reported for January, opposition councillors as well as village heads who did not
comply with partisan distribution of the aid were either pushed out of their positions or
relieved of the distribution function of their duties. This was seen in Matabeleland,
among a few other areas.
January saw a total of 208 reported politically motivated violations, a majority of which
were allegedly perpetrated by Zanu-PF (82.3%).
For its part, the MDC-T was also accused of perpetrating violent acts including a report
from Mukarakate Village in Murehwa South, where a member of the democratic
movement defected to the Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe (RDZ) had his house set on
fire.
Violence continues to be traded from all quarters albeit with some parties being more
violent than others. On this score, the political landscape remains grim.
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