In the past few days three MDC-T supporters have been attacked by Chipangano members, according to the party. On Sunday Edwin Machokoto was accosted by Chipangano youth allegedly for putting up MDC-T posters.
He was beaten and sustained serious injuries on his face and all over the body. Two other members, Mary Pamire and Johannes Dehwe, were also hospitalised after they were abducted and assaulted by ZANU PF supporters in Kuwadzana and Mbare.
The MDC-T Youth Assembly says Chipangano is made up of ZANU PF youths, who have unleashed a reign of terror in Mbare and elsewhere around the capital, Harare. Civic organisations have also complained about Chipangano’s tactics. ZANU PF youth leader Jim Kunaka has not responded to a request to comment on the allegations.
On Tuesday, Solomon Madzore, the MDC-T Youth Assembly chairperson, said they knew who the Chipangano members were and would take legal action as a deterrent measure against more attacks. MDC-T activists complain that the police do not take action against their attackers. They hope taking the matter directly to the courts will serve better justice.
“They are seeking compensation from ZANU PF youth league, especially from Chipangano. They are suing Chipangano directly because those are known people,” Madzore explained, “Jeremiah Bhamu, who happens to be our secretary for legal affairs in the MDC national executive, is the one who is going to pursue the issue and give me the update.”
“It is a big group and they are all known with the exception of one or two, who might be hired thugs from outside Harare,” he said.
Madzore added that their three members were still in pain and had been left traumatised by the attacks.
“They are still in pain, but most importantly, it’s not the kind of physical pain that we should be looking at. It’s the trauma that they are looking at. The fact that they were left for dead is actually even more painful than the physical beatings themselves. And just the fact that a fellow Zimbabwean could actually do that to a brother or sister who is also Zimbabwean is very excruciating,” Madzore explained.
Post published in: Politics