Speaking to The Zimbabwean, the villagers accused soldiers deployed in April of threatening them with a repeat of the 2008 violence that rocked the province.
Mutoko, in Mashonaland East, was one of the areas worst affected by the violence that rocked the country during the 2008 elections. A 2009 report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Non- Governmental Organisation Forum revealed that organised violence and torture increased during that period.
“The number of cases where members of the army were implicated as the primary perpetrators also increased,” read the report.
An analysis by Heal Zimbabwe Trust done between January and June 2013, revealed that Zanu (PF) supporters and members of the security sector contributed to human rights violations in the country.
Shane Kativu, a villager from Ward 11 in Nyamukapa area said the soldiers were there under the guise of passing on best farming practices but were actually campaigning for Zanu (PF).
“We were told that voting for opposition parties would result in a repeat of the 2008 violence,” he said. “The soldiers came in April and some of them are the same people who beat us up in 2008.”
Another local, Rita Nyakunu, said: “We are made to chant Zanu (PF) slogans at the meetings”.
A villager who refused to be identified said: “We cannot report them anywhere because when we went to JOMIC, they told us that they wanted evidence that we were being intimidated.”
Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee Mashonaland East Administrator, Lucy Tsopotsa, could not shed any light on the issue. JOMIC Communications Manager, Joram Nyathi, said he was not aware of any reports of intimidation.
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