NYANGA - Fearful villagers in Chipinge and Nyanga have devised a whistle strategy to combat increasing attacks from Zanu (PF) thugs and war vets, as the police refuse to come to their aid.Douglas Mwonzora, the national co-chairperson of the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee in Zimbabwe (COPAC), said on Monday that locals were fed up of being harassed at outreach meetings and have resorted to citizen action.
According to Mwonzora the plan is that: “Once a person is attacked or an attack is imminent, they whistle, those who hear the whistle also whistle while advancing towards the location of the first whistle, so there will be a lot of whistling. Firstly it puts off the attacker and confuses the attacker. It then mobilizes people towards the person being attacked,” he explained.
On arrival at the scene of violence locals hold down the attackers and also take note of who they are. Then they are taken to a police station and the hope is that the police will actually do something.
Over the past weeks, war vets and ZANU PF militia were reported to be terrorising locals in Chipinge and Masvingo province, beating up MDC members and those believed to be opposed to Robert Mugabe. War vet leader Jabalunai Sibanda was reportedly a key figure in targeting people who wanted to speak freely during the ongoing constitutional outreach.
Post published in: News