ZANU-PF oils terror machinery
Last Updated on Friday, 30 March 2012 13:57 Written by Administrator Friday, 30 March 2012 13:19
Towards any major election in Zimbabwe, ZANU PF devises rigging mechanisms intended to entrench its hold on power. Despite losing support from the majority of Zimbabweans, the political party continues to use violence as a power retention mechanism negating the democratic right of citizens to freely select their leaders.
The year 2012 poses as a crucial year for most Zimbabweans as they gear up for the referendum and possible elections. Zanu (PF) has since reactivated its terror machinery countrywide spearheaded by its youth militia and war veterans in a chilling reminder to Zimbabweans that the forces of darkness that stalked the run-up to the June 2008 presidential run-off have reincarnated. The party’s infamous militia groups include Chipangano in Mbare, Top Six in Chinhoyi and Jochomondo in Hurungwe
Residents of the high density suburb of Mbare are living in fear as they are aware of the repercussions of not supporting Zanu (PF), excommunication, displacement and torture. In Mbare, Chipangano has taken over most council operations while the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) official, Honourable Piniel Denga is virtually barred from accessing his constituency. They are well known for demanding payments from the ordinary people on the grounds that ‘Mbare is Zanu pf territory’.
Recently, Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR) spokesperson, Mr. Sten Zvorwadza was intimidated, assaulted and victimized by pro-Zanu pf supporters in Mbare while installing paraffin tanks in the area. Chipangano, which has become a law unto itself thanks to police inaction in reigning in the terror group, is reported to be behind a spate of violence in many parts of Harare including the disruption of an MDC-T rally in Sunningdale in March 2012 and the subsequent attacks on participants at the meeting. In an interview with the Newsday crew on Thursday the 29th of March 2012, a Chinhoyi resident reported that the Top Six has caused much suffering to the community intimidating and victimizing ordinary people.
‘Sometimes they threaten us with violence if we don’t meet their demands. One of them told me that if I refuse to give them $5 they would take me to their boss come election time where they would beat me. This kind of behaviour has become a cause for concern as nobody is there to protect the ordinary people from such atrocities as police watch and let go’.
Media reports indicate that leaders of the youth Militia are remunerated with vending stalls, small business opportunities and favours in market areas as well as a few beers for embarking on an orgy of senseless violence. Fears abound that the resources set aside for youth empowerment and the Community Share Trusts coupled with some resources from the mining industry are used to oil Zanu PF’s terror machinery. It is indeed mind boggling to note that while all this is happening the police have remained silent, taking no action to bring the culprits to book. With this in mind the big question posed is who is going to protect the ordinary Zimbabweans from such atrocities and who will police the police? The police have become a law upon themselves; they have defied the Police Act under the Constitution which prohibits them to participate in politics as they have openly declared themselves Zanu pf commissars under the pretext of protecting the nation’s independence and sovereignty.
The Zanu (PF) regime perpetuates the `abduction, torture and killing of Zimbabwe's citizens to this very day while those responsible remain unaccountable. The continued existence of quasi- military groups which cause mayhem in the country, with impunity, is testament to Zanu Pf’s determination to steal another election through terror. Members of these groups should face the full wrath of the law.
Efforts by both the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) and the Organ on National Healing to promote community cohesion and peaceful co-existence are meaningless if elements within the inclusive government secretly fuel violence through their militia. Disbanding of these groups, which political parties agreed to do in the Global Political Agreement (GPA), is central to enhancing chances of a violence free electoral process. Moreover, suggestions by Zanu Pf that the Human Rights Commission Bill should limit investigations of human rights violations to the post 2008 period are intended to award blanket immunity to perpetrators of violence and encourage future perpetration. The inclusive government should ensure that all rights abuses are investigated and perpetrators incarcerated if the country is to experience genuine democratic consolidation.