The province had been a Zanu (PF) stronghold and those who opted to join the MDC lived under a blanket of fear, with many losing life and limb, particularly in the run-up to the 2008 presidential run-off. But recent calls for peace and the work of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee have seen increased resistance to intimidation.
This defiance, as recent investigations revealed, is particularly evident in rural Muzarabani, where villagers who said they had endured years of victimisation for supporting the MDC, have challenged war veterans, Zanu (PF) youth militia and soldiers to respect recent calls for peace by President Robert Mugabe and vowed that they would no longer be intimidated by threats of violence.
While acknowledging that Mugabe’s peace calls have in the past fallen on deaf ears, analysts have expressed satisfaction that the President has been consistent in his peace message, with some Zanu (PF) insiders revealing that he was anxious to leave a legacy through a legitimate election.
The peace calls have reinforced the work done by Jomic, which has conducted a number of activities to encourage people from different political parties to work together in promoting peace.
“Jomic has done a lot in educating us on the need to preserve peace in our area. Recently it held a clean-up campaign at Muzarabani Growth Point where all party members shook hands while working together in peace,” said Itai Charumbuka, a villager from Muzarabani and a supporter of MDC-T.
Simon Waiton, from St Albert’s Mission, added that despite Muzarabani being dominated by Zanu (PF), MDC-T supporters had gathered courage to wear party regalia. Even though particular individuals are still threatening them, the majority of Zanu (PF) supporters now just watch as they carry out party business. “They no longer talk about us and even when they see us moving around this shopping centre, they just leave us alone,” Waiton said.
Charles Gonzo (43), also from Muzarabani, said “Long back, whenever they threatened us with violence, we would spend days sleeping in mountains but now, it does not even move us.” He ascribed their newly-found courage to repeated peace calls and the work of Jomic.
Joram Nyathi, Jomic Communications Manager, encouraged people to report any cases of violence to the police to allow Jomic to deal with authentic cases. “People should make sure that, before they report to Jomic, they make efforts to also report to the police as this will also help us to deal with authenticated reports,” he said.
Post published in: News