My future destroyed – MDC youth activist

a.
“I was forced into exile in 2003 after the crucial 2002 presidential election. I left all my belongings, including my beloved girlfriend and parents for expressing views, which are different from Mugabe and Zanu (PF).
“Though I am a true Zimbabwean by origin and birth, I was labelled a British puppet, a sellout and a traitor. During the Bikita West by-election in 2001 when the then notorious war veterans leader, Chenjerai ‘Hitler’ Hunzvi was in charge, I was arrested and detained in remand prison in Masvingo for seven days without a charge only to be released after the by-election had finished. Of course, Zanu (PF) snatched that seat away from MDC,” recalled Mhuriro. The MDC candidate in the by-election was Bonnie Pakai, who was pitted Zanu (PF)’s retired army colonel Claudius Makova. Mhuriro maintains that the elections were rigged. He earns his living through buying and selling of goods and says he has learnt to accept that Mugabe was a “natural murderer and dictator”.
“My future has been ruined, badly affected by Zanu (PF) and president Mugabe’s atrocious policies. When I left Zimbabwe, I was 23 years old and today I’m 26. This shows that time is flying for me and I’m aging yet I have nothing to show for my children, who are yet to be born,” said Mhuriro.
The softly spoken Mhuriro started his political career at a tender age in 1999 following the referendum, in which Zanu (PF) dismally lost to the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) campaigns for a vote “No”.
That was the turning point of his life – when his home could be visited by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives, police vehicles and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) law and order section for allegedly “breaking laws” for choosing an opposition political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Though young, Mhuriro was immediately voted chairperson for ward Maruwa in Mbare east, Harare shortly after the launch of the opposition MDC in September 1999. He says clashes with Zanu (PF), who were used to ruling, became a regular occurrence. On one occasion he and other MDC youths were ambushed by heavily armed Zanu (PF) followers with axes, knob-kerries, knives and other sharp objects.
“We fled into a nearby thick bush. Our vehicle, a Mazda B1800 was burnt into ashes. That night we were forced to walk for a distance of 100 kilometres on foot from Corner Store in Mutoko to Bhora.
“But as time went on, we realised that the mother of all battles was in the Bikita west by-election where dozens of MDC activists were murdered in cold blood with myself being taken to Gona ReZhou national park before being dumped before wild animals so that we get eaten,” said Mhuriro.
Mhuriro and other MDC youths from Baradzanwa in Bikita west were made to go for a week without any food or water as they were afraid of walking in the country’s second largest national park for fear of lions, leopards, hyenas, jackals and buffaloes. When they eventually managed to move out of the game park, the MDC youths, who had been drawn from all over the country to campaign in Bikita, were once again arrested before being taken to the remand prison in Masvingo where they were released after the by-election.
Disaster fell when a Zanu (PF) staunch supporter, called Alikan Manjengwa was shot and died one night. He says all active MDC activists were arrested, tortured and imprisoned at Harare Central.
“When bail was finally allowed, I fled to South Africa. I am not going home until such a time democracy and the rule of law return,” said Mhuriro. Commenting on the plight of refugees in South Africa, Wits University’s Forced Migration, Jean Pierre, said there was no adequate mechanisms in the country to assist the suffering refugees and asylum seekers. “The government of South Africa and the United Nations High Commission (UNHCR) should not expose these asylum seeking people, but protect them as well as offering them with food and shelter,” he said. -CAJ News