SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
Political tension is rising in Kwekwe after suspected ZANU PF supporters went on a spree, defacing campaign posters belonging to the MDC-T candidates.
Outgoing MDC-T Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya, who is seeking re-election, said his team discovered the damage Wednesday morning and suspects the vandals struck overnight.
Chikwinya said his team started putting up the campaign posters two days ago while ZANU PF had a head-start, having started during their primaries held on June 24th, without any problems.
“We were shocked this morning to discover that most of our posters in Mbizo, and the main bus terminus in the city centre, had been torn or removed. We view this as an act of intolerance by ZANU PF members.
“The culprits removed only MDC-T posters and left ZANU PF ones intact, so we strongly suspect it is ZANU PF militia Al Shabaab, who are notorious for such acts,” said Chikwinya.
Kwekwe is the home of ZANU PF vigilante group Al-Shabab which is named after a Somalia-based al Qaeda terror cell and is responsible for countless attacks on perceived opponents, as well as for disrupting MDC-T meetings.
Although the matter has been reported to the police no arrests have been made, with previous incidents involving the terror group also going unresolved and unpunished.
Chikwinya added: “We have in the past reported all acts of political misconduct by Al Shabab to the police but history tells us that the group is above the law where the police are concerned.
“With the elections starting July 14th and 15th (for the police) we had hoped that political liaison committees run by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will already be in place so that they can restrain their respective supporters from engaging in provocative and violent conduct,” he said.
Despite the provocation, Chikwinya said his supporters will try not rise to the bait: “They are provoking us in the hope that we will retaliate and thereby give them an excuse to instigate violence. We can’t be expected to sit back and watch them doing this.
“This is pointing to the beginning of a terror campaign and if we are to have a free and fair election, the relevant ministries need to step in. Today they have torn posters, tomorrow it will be T-shirts, and then they will start tearing up people,” the ex-legislator observed.
On Wednesday another ZANU PF terror cell, Chipangano, are reported to have attacked and injured Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire, who is also the MDC-T candidate for Southerton. We were unable to get more details before going on air.
In the bloody 2008 elections, ZANU PF unleashed a terror campaign led by infamous groups such as Chipangano in Harare, Top Six in Chinhoyi, Jochomondo in Hurungwe, Jambanja in Marambapfungwe. The Al-Shabab outfit was formed in 2012, supposedly to champion ZANU PF’s controversial indigenisation drive.
Meanwhile in Bulawayo, violence broke out in the city’s Magwegwe Constituency where MDC-T supporters are alleged to have attacked ex-MDC-T MP Felix Mafa’s campaign team, confiscating and burning his posters.
Mafa will be contesting the Magwegwe seat as an independent after losing to Anele Ndebele during the party’s disputed primary poll. He told SW Radio Africa Tuesday that he was saddened that MDC-T supporters “were now acting like thugs”.
“They are tearing up our posters, intimidating our supporters and harassing old people. They even kidnapped (Mr) Nhamo. This is not democratic and should be stopped,” Mafa said.
The independent candidate said he was convinced that his rivals were feeling threatened by what he had done for the constituency during his five years in parliament.
“They are aware of my work with the people of Magwegwe: I am popular because I related well with everyone, and I handled the Constituency Development Fund well. The same (defacing posters) is happening in Mpopoma where (Samuel Sandla) Khumalo, another independent, is a candidate.
“Tearing down posters is illegal and incites violence when we should be saying ‘no’ to violence during election. This morning (Wednesday) I caught Nqobile Ndlovu, Josphat Mutanda and others cutting out Morgan Tsvangirai’s face from my posters and also covering up my posters with theirs,” Mafa said.
Magwegwe resident Jobha Freddie Mambo narrated to Bulawayo-based correspondent Lionel Saungweme how he was manhandled and his T-Shirt torn by MDC-T candidate Ndebele’s supporters.
Magwegwe police are said to be handling the case, according to the ex-MP who also expressed confidence that the perpetrators of the skirmishes will be arrested.