Chingozho was attending a funeral in her rural home with some relatives when a group of gun-wielding youth descended on the homestead and picked out those members of the family who had come from Harare. The youth picked out five people; three of Chingozho’s children and an uncle whom they started beating.
The five were made to dig holes in the dry ground with their bare hands so that they could spit in them and vow never to vote for MDC again. According to the uncle, whose name we withheld for security reasons, all this harassment happened whiles they were being beaten with sticks in the back by the. All five sustained injuries and Chingozho had to be taken to hospital where she was admitted until the time of her death.
Two of her children and the uncle are back at work in Harare, while her daughter, Sarah Chingozho who is a teacher at a local school, is still recovering from home.
With more than 2000 people having been beaten by the state sponsored violence and the death toll still rising, the impending runoff election is bad news for the people of Zimbabwe. The level of violence is increasing both in scale and intensity and there is little evidence that the presence of election observers is abating the situation. The presence of foreign observers has failed to restore confidence in the Zimbabwean electorate since the violence is being done in their full glare.
Restoration of Human Rights is concerned with the recent statements of Robert Mugabe where he literally threatened war on opposition if the people of Zimbabwe vote Morgan Tsvangirai into power next week on 27 June. It is an apparent attack on the very principles of democracy and compromises the ability of the electorate to vote freely.
Post published in: News