Mugabe was sole candidate in the June 27 run-off election after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out saying free and fair vote was impossible after 86 of his supporters were killed and about 200 000 others displaced in political violence during the run-up to the poll.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said ex-combatants were forcing every household in the districts of Lushongwe, Matshetsheni, Wenlock and Nyandeni to donate 5kg of mealie-meal and a sum of $200 billion for the victory celebration regardless of whether or not they supported Mugabe.
The former fighters of Zimbabwe’s 1970s independence war and who are hardline supporters of Mugabe were also said to have asked schools to collect money from pupils for the victory celebrations.
Mqabuko Ndlovu, the spokesman for the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC, said: Traumatised villagers in Gwanda North face daily threats of beatings if they do not donate money and food to the celebrations for Mugabe’s re-election.
An official of the smaller faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara described it as sad that after terrorising villagers to vote for Mugabe, war veterans would return to intimidate people to donate food so that they could celebrate the outcome of the roundly discredited June election.
However the chairman of Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party in the province, Rido Mpofu, denied that villagers were being forced to donate, insisting that those that had given cash or food had done so of their free will.
The villagers are willingly fundraising for Mugabe’s re-election victory celebrations after we asked for donations, Mpofu said.
Several African observers including those from the African Union (AU) condemned Zimbabwe’s run-off election as undemocratic, while a handful of African countries have said they will not recognise Mugabe’s government.
However, the AU has resisted calls by Western nations for sanctions against Mugabe and instead used its summit in Egypt last month to urge the Zimbabwean leader to open negotiations with the opposition for a government of national unity. – ZimOnline
Post published in: News