Calls for peace: are they being heeded?

But for many people of rural Mberengwa West, the horrors of the 2008 electoral violence are still fresh in their minds. While they find the calls for peace by Mugabe and Tsvangirai commendable, they feel the word alone is not enough to end violence – as there are some people who still act in defiance of these calls.

Any visitor to the area could be forgiven for thinking everything is normal. But once you begin talking to people who live there, the cracks in the façade become all too obvious. Several villagers who spoke to this paper painted a picture of a community living in fear of political violence, which takes many different forms – from physical threats to psychological attacks.

Attacks are random

The attacks are random and do not discriminate along party lines. Everyone is vulnerable. A Zanu (PF) supporter, who requested not to be named, said he was afraid of his own ilk.

“I am a Zanu (PF) supporter. We have meetings every Wednesday and each time I do not attend they start accusing me of supporting the opposition. You have heard these people saying they are MDC so it is also an issue when they see me speaking to such people. But they are my relatives so I have a right to speak to them,” he said. “The MP is encouraging peace but his power seems to be limited because some members of our party are not listening. I think people must be free to associate with anyone they like.”

JOMIC gains

Mugabe and Tsvangirai, for long bitter rivals but now partners in an uneasy coalition, have both urged their supporters to desist from violence and ensure peaceful elections – but their pleas seem to be falling on deaf eyes.

Alice Luther (64), an MDC-T supporter under Chief Mudavanhu, said she was living in fear of Zanu (PF) supporters. “People are beginning to understand but there are some who are adamant because they still say we will bring sticks come election time,” said Luther.

The Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee has made some gains in building peace in the area but their reactive approach worries many locals.

“JOMIC came here last year on April 3 and encouraged us to unite and not to fight. The situation provisionally stabilized but we are slowly going back to the environment of intimidation,” said Luther.

JOMIC is tasked with overseeing the operations of the coalition government, with a particular quest to bring peace in communities.

The Committee’s political liaison officer for MDC-T in Midlands province, Limukani Ndlovu, said they were regularly responding to reports.

“We held our last meeting in Mberengwa two months ago. Mberengwa has four districts and eight constituencies. We pick constituencies randomly. The last sensitization meeting that we held was in September not April 2012 in all the Mberengwa constituencies”.

“The latest report that we received was in January. The second week of January we visited Mberengwa because soldiers had intimidated people and we visited all the places in the area and the soldiers were arrested,” Ndlovu said.

Strong signal

Efforts to talk to the committee’s political liaison officer for Zanu (PF), Harris Ncube, were fruitless as he has been in hospital for the past month. JOMIC Co-chairperson Tabitha Khumalo said the communities now know the procedures that should be followed when they are intimidated or beaten on political grounds.

“People now know the rules of JOMIC – they should go to the police and report. If they are not able to, they should call a political liaison officer in the area so that their issues are attended to. JOMIC has offices in all the provinces around the country,” Khumalo said.

Although the inter-party committee includes representatives from the main political parties, torture, harassment and politically motivated prosecution of human rights defenders and perceived opponents have persisted, a sign that its teachings are not holding.

Stelisiwe Tichagwa said Zanu (PF) members had sent a strong signal that they intend to carry on from where they left off during the 2008 violent election.

“Living conditions are difficult this side. We are living with people who don’t want our presence. I support MDC so Zanu (PF) is already intimidating us. They say they will bring back sticks come election time. My husband is a branch chairman for the MDC-T so they are always after us”.

“This morning a man came to my homestead alleging that my cattle destroyed his crops – but they were in the kraal the whole night and I can trace the allegations to our political differences,” Tichagwa said.

Nothing changed

Isaiah Shoko (58), a local traditional leader in Mberengwa, said people in his area were being victimised because of his known support for the MDC.

“I am the village head. People in my village are being transferred to other villages because I support MDC-T. They say anyone who wants to be a village head at the same time as supporting MDC must go to America because that’s where MDC people belong. I still receive threats from Zanu (PF) supporters. Nothing has changed for me,” Shoko said.

But it’s not all gloom and doom. One woman who was beaten by Zanu (PF) supporters in 2008 said she has forgotten the sins of the past because the legislator for the area, Jorum Gumbo, is preaching peace in his constituency.

“I don’t want to lie. I am living peacefully – neither have I heard of any rumours of violence in the area,” she said. Arnold Chikotore (71) is less worried about violence than about his biggest predicament – worries about a poor harvest because of this season’s poor rains.

Preaching peace

“We don’t have problems this side. We are living in peace and harmony. They haven’t started any campaigns they are only preaching peace. The only thing that is troubling us is drought,” Chikotore said.

Gumbo said despite reports of violence in his constituency he has done his groundwork very well.

“I am not aware of such activities. I am always preaching peace. We had a big meeting telling people not to resort to violence. If there are some people still intimidating others I need to know about it and will deal with it – because we want peace,” Gumbo said. But he did not rule out the existence of some trouble spots. “Of course I cannot speak on behalf of the whole area. Even JOMIC came last year and produced an excellent report saying that there is peace in Mberengwa West”.

“Its true JOMIC only came once and I think this is because they saw that the area was peaceful. But I think JOMIC should hold these meetings regularly so that people continue to live peacefully.” Gumbo said.