A NEW report on Zimbabwe’s political environment has named the ruling Zanu PF and its affiliate, Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) as the main perpetrators of violence in the run-up to next week’s elections.
The report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Monitors Platform says the ruling party accounts for 74% of the reported cases of political violence.
“What is particularly disconcerting is not only the prevalence of such acts, but also their systematic nature, often orchestrated by the ruling party and predominantly occurring in rural areas,” said the report, titled Political Violence and Compromised Institutions released this week.
The report went for the jugular: “The majority of the cases point to Zanu PF as the perpetrators, who account for 108 (74%) cases and these violations most occur in rural areas.
We have seen videos of ruling party officials or suspected FAZ members directing villagers to vote for Zanu PF or risk being exposed by secret cameras planted inside the polling stations.
The frightened villagers are also being told that the serial numbers on the ballot papers would be used to trace villagers who would have voted against the script.
This takes away one’s democratic right to choose who to vote for, which renders voting an academic exercise or a delayed match.
This brings fresh memories of the gory past such as the 2008 presidential run-off whose scars are still fresh.
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Violence has seen neighbour turning against neighbour in the name of politics.
It has left families broken after robbing them of breadwinners. It has also created an “eye for an eye situation” as victims regroup and retaliate.
The swiftness of law enforcement agencies in arresting the perpetrators when it involves the opposition and its lethargy when violence authors have Zanu PF DNA in them has left society with low perception of the country’s law enforcement agencies.
All these shenanigans occur despite assurances by President Emmerson Mnangagwa that he would deliver a free and fair election.
Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry deputy minister Barbara Rwodzi torched a storm last month after an audio in which she was questioning a police officer why he had arrested a violent member of her campaign team.
In the audio, Rwodzi called the police officer a “dog” for merely doing his job.
Authorities must be firm in the fight against political violence so that it is nipped in the bud and not left to the victims to fight back.
As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind”.
