Harare high-density suburbs that enthusiastically support the opposition have been subjected to assaults by Zanu (PF) mobs and police, and a similar campaign is under way in the countryside.
Particularly ferocious have been attempts to root the MDC out of the three Mashonaland provinces – Zanu (PF)’s traditional heartland. Scores of opposition supporters in the rural areas are being forced to renounce their allegiance to the opposition MDC or to the new presidential aspirant, Makoni.
They are being told that the MDC was a party for whites, backed by the British, and have to be paraded at ruling party rallies announcing that they are rejoining Zanu (PF).
Tendai Munemo (a pseudonym) was forced to stand before a rally to renounce the MDC. He used to be one of the MDC’s branch officials in Muzarabani, in Mashonaland central province.
Narrating his ordeal to The Zimbabwean, he said: “They started to beat me with canes and knobkerries saying, ‘You are MDC, you must die.’ They said they would burn down my house and beat my family too.”
Post published in: News