HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) has started recruiting youths Investigations by The Zimbabwean have revealed that the vicious campaign of terror is expected to roll into motion in July, soon after the soccer World Cup ends in South Africa and the media spotlight shifts elsewhere.
High-level sources within both Zanu (PF) and MDC-T as well as the security services said the purpose of this horrific plan, if it succeeds, was to plunge the country into total anarchy, making it impossible to continue with the drafting of a new constitution.
The fall-back plan agreed by the parties in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) – an immediate election if a new constitution can not be agreed upon – will also be rendered sterile, ensuring Mugabe’s continued reign.
Among the areas targeted for attack is Masvingo Province, a flash-point of violence for many years. After years of killings by Zanu (PF), in which no-one significant has been arrested or called to account, tensions are very high in the province, making it fertile ground for the planned terror campaign.
Volatile Mwenezi
The new round of killings is expected to start in Mwenezi district, a dangerous and volatile enclave where the local Member of Parliament, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, who was recently elevated to the Zanu (PF) politburo has been whipping up emotions.
He has accused Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of being an ‘enemy of the state’ over the issue of Western targeted sanctions. Violence, poverty, drought and unemployment have combined to produce a lethal mix of frustration and desperation among the youth in the area, witnessed first-hand by this reporter at the weekend.
Masvingo Central Member of Parliament, Tongai Matutu, told The Zimbabwean that a planning meeting about the attacks had been held in Mwenezi recently.
“The meeting in Mwenezi Ward 13 involved members of the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), war veterans and general Zanu (PF) supporters. They intend to recruit youths for training in torture and bloodshed. What we are going to experience is anarchy worse than that seen in the 2008 run-off (election campaign),” Matutu said.
He added: “Threats of violence are increasing by the day. There seems to be a wider plan by Zanu (PF) to destabilize Zimbabwe after the World Cup. There are plans to make constitution-making impossible. They want to create no-go areas.”
Matutu, a respected lawyer and close associate of the premier said Zanu (PF) had gone into election mode in the region but the party had run out of ideas on how to win public support, hence the resort to violence.
Illegal weapons
“Zanu (PF) has run out of any bankable programmes. They failed to convince people that sanctions are hurting them, so they are now planning for violence. This violence should be stopped by any means necessary because violence breeds illegitimacy. As a party we have an obligation to protect our supporters, especially in the rural areas because most of our constituencies are rural,” Matutu said.
He said he was personally targeted.
“I’m considered a threat but I don’t hold any guns. These are threats which I’ve learned to live with.”
Working under-cover, The Zimbabwean was able to confirm the violent plans with war veterans and members of the security services. In one encounter, we witnessed a member of the secret service supplying a handful of bullets to a youth militiaman and joking, “Here are sweets for the children.” We also discovered that the area is awash with illegal weapons.
Govt Payroll
On Sunday, this reporter attended a meeting in Higher Education minister and Zanu (PF) Politburo member Stan Mudenge’s Masvingo North constituency. During an informal meeting, a war veteran who is also a member of the CIO told the local leadership that MDC-T supporters should be excluded from donors’ food lists currently being compiled and should be denied farming inputs that are belatedly being distributed. The veteran started the meeting by scolding the local leadership for allowing MDC-T supporters access to the inputs in previous rounds.
“How could you allow MDC-T ‘sellouts’ to get fertilizer? Do you have enough for yourselves? If that is the case give the fertilizer to me. I know what to do with it,” fumed the war veteran. The villagers apologised profusely before he set out the new terms of aid for them.
Masvingo province suffered some of the worst political violence of the 2008 run-off campaign, which forced Tsvangirai to pull out of the race, leaving Mugabe to claim victory as the sole candidate. Bombings, shootings, grenade attacks, gruesome torture, rape and mutilations left scores dead and injured while many others fled their homes.
The new youth recruitment drive is expected to be funded by the state. A recent parliamentary report confirmed that there were 10 000 illegally recruited members of the Zanu (PF) youth militia on the government payroll.
Post published in: News