Kwenda and the men had been hiding in the hills for weeks when they were tracked down by sniffer dogs. They were then abducted at gunpoint. Two weeks before that, the village headman, cousin and rival for the Kwenda chieftainship, went around the village making villagers sign statements that, though they had voted for the MDC, they would never do so again. He also confiscated their t-shirts and destroyed the shops of MDC activists. “If no action is taken quickly they are going to kill him. This is what they are doing, killing the winners so that you can have bi-elections, and no opposition person will run in the election for fear of being killed,” said our source.Councillor Rusere from Shumba, in the same area, has already died in Harare were he was receiving treatment after torture. An MDC spokesperson said the government was using the same strategy which it used after the 2000 referendum when they beat and tortured people until the election observers arrived in the country, then the election was held and declared to be free of violence, yet the violence had already affected the voting.         Â
“This is why Morgan Tsvangirai has said observers and peacekeepers should be in place by June 1, but it does not look like we are going to get that. If you ask me, I think President Mbeki is complicit in this,” he said. Â