Villagers speak out

The judiciary should not be a tool of oppression by those in power, he said. He also said that there should be equitable distribution of state resources without discrimination on grounds of political affiliation, and called for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to outline and enforce demarcations of the responsibilities of the three arms of state.

Many villagers here agreed that the looting and abuse of state resources should be stopped. Uniformed forces should carry out their duties professionally without discriminating on partisan grounds guided by a code of conduct that respects human dignity, said Nathan Maina.

The people went on to say that torture by the police force should never be tolerated and such acts of impunity should be punished severely. We are being harassed by overzealous Zanu (PF) youths who are forcing us to support Zanu (PF). We do not want that party. We want a people driven vote, which embraces the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe, said Francis Zamba.

Civil society groups in the province have embarked on road shows to stimulate debate on the election process. The Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe (CCZ) and Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR) among civil society groups at the forefront of electoral reforms and are holding meetings encouraging people to participate in the process.

We want to have every child in school. Thats all what we want. We will vote for a party that sends children to school. Our children are being forced out of school for not paying school fees. I will vote for a party that takes good care of school children, said Monica Wabaya , an elder in the area.

In a recent survey, Unicef and the Central Statistical Office said 71 per cent of school-going children did not attend classes due to financial constraints. An assessment of primary and secondary education carried out by the National Education Advisory Board showed that most schools did not have textbooks.