MASVINGO Youth militia and war veterans have been deployed by Zanu (PF) to drum up support for the Kariba Draft. The draft is a defunct constitution that President Robert Mugabe is attempting to foist on the people of Zimbabwe. It was drawn up in secret two years ago by Zanu (PF) and the MDC.The move to campaign for the Kariba Draft follows the beginning of the second phase of the constitution-making process that began after the all stakeholders conference last week. The phase involves gathering information from the general public to inform the drawing up of a new, people-driven constitution.
Sources within Zanu (PF) confirmed the deployment of militia to encourage people to adopt the Kariba Draft.
We have deployed youths and war veterans to campaign for the party, said the source. Our party has a position, and that should be spread to the grassroots level. We have been using war veterans and young graduates from the national youth service to campaign for us in elections and we are going to use them again during the constitutional reform process.
The supporters have been accused of harassing, assaulting and even killing opponents in the past. This has fuelled worries that the youths will intimidate the public during the gathering of information for the constitution.
We have told them not to beat up anyone but I cannot guarantee they will not do so, said the source.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president, Takavafira Zhou, confirmed that war veterans had been deployed to schools around the country.
Reports have filtered in of teachers leaving their stations in fear of harassment. He labelled their presence as intimidation.
Post published in: News