The party’s spokesperson for the province, Isaac Mupinyuri told The Zimbabwean that intimidation was rife in Mt Darwin, Mbire and Guruve.
He alleged Zanu (PF) activists were moving around villages threatening MDC-T activists with a repeat of the 2008 violence if they vote for the MDC-T.
“Intimidation of our supporters has heightened here and the situation is worse in Mt Darwin, Mbire and Guruve. We have been moving around these areas and there are several concerns from our supporters who are living in fear of a repeat of the 2008 violence as a result of this intimidation.
“We have identified some of the people behind these intimidations and they are mostly Zanu (PF) councilors and village heads. In Mbire Ward 4, there is a Zanu (PF) councillor called Dhorokoni and in Guruve there is Chabeyanzara,” said Mupinyuri.
He said that in Guruve North, MDC-T supporters in resettled farms are being threatened with eviction if they do not vote for Zanu (PF).
“People are being intimidated that Zanu (PF) would be monitoring how they will be voting and there are threats being given to our supporters by the Zanu (PF) officials that they would be monitoring how they will be voting tomorrow,” said Mupinyuri.
He said the development had taken away hopes of a violent free election from MDC-T supporters.
Mupinyuri expressed concern over the manner in which the police are handling the case.
“What is worrying is that the police told us that they did not have enough manpower to go and investigate the issues in these areas. Their justification for that is that most police officers have been deployed on election duty,” said Mupinyuri.
When contacted for comment over the issue, police spokesperson for Mashonaland Central, Petros Masikati said he was not aware of the issue as he was out of office.
“I am not in the office at the present moment so I am not in a position to comment on that. The best people to talk to over that issue are at our national office in Harare because they are aware of everything that takes place in the provinces,” said Masikati.
National police spokesperson, Charity Charamba, could not be reached for comment as her mobile phone went unanswered.
Post published in: News
Judicial system in Zimbabwe must take serious steps on Intimidation of any political party supporters. Everyone is allowed to caste vote freely without any pressure or threat. Election 2013 in Zimbabwe showed similar results and rigging complaints lodged by MDC-T. Thanks
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