The man, identified as Mahwani, is a ZANU (PF) official who lost the town council primary elections.
The vendors, all of them women complied with the officials call amid grumbles as their brisk business had been disrupted.
After all the vendors had gathered Mahwani asked why the women had waved back to an MDC truck that had passed through the town the previous day.
He went on to threaten the vendors that he would use his influence to unleash terror on the vendors if they supported the opposition.
“Tinokuunzirai mapurisa mukarohwa zvakaipa, munoaziva zvaanoita mapurisa, uye muchazoita sei MDC yacho ikaruza, handiti munozviziva kuti hurumemnde irikutonga haiwanzoruza,” he told the shocked women.
One of the women was brave enough to shout out that it was because of poverty that there was a lot of support for the opposition.
Mahwani then went on a rampage accusing the opposition of causing the economic chaos in Zimbabwe.
The meeting lasted for about 15 minutes and the poor women were warned that if they ever entertained the opposition they would live to regret it.
In an interview after the meeting many of the women said they no longer feared the threats.
“He can force me to come to his meeting but he will not be there when I put my X, said one of the women
Asked if they did not consider reporting the intimidation to the police, one of them said that would see them being booted from the market place.
They will chase us away and we will be left with no other means of survival, we will just wait until the elections day, she said.
ZANU (PF) has been known for unleashing the police and the youth militia on opposition supporters as a way of intimidation ahead of elections.
Post published in: News