Opposition CCC rallies blocked in rural areas ahead of crunch elections

Opposition CCC rallies blocked in rural areas ahead of crunch elections

Political violence, intimidation and the blocking of opposition rallies have taken centre stage in Zimbabwe just under two months before the general elections on 23 August.

Although the election season started in a relatively peaceful way, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa in his first rally in Chipinge two weeks ago calling for a violence-free election, things have taken a turn.

On Tuesday, Zanu-PF supporters in the Zvimba South constituency assaulted members of independent candidate Walter Chidakwa’s campaign team.

Chidakwa was the mines minister under the late Robert Mugabe. After the November 2017 putsch, he was sidelined from the party.

An assault case was opened at the Darwendale police station.

The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) claimed that the Zanu-PF’s Energy Mutodi had fired shots at its supporters during a rally in Bikita on Thursday.

Mutodi is the Zanu-PF candidate for Bikita South.

CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said in a tweet that the scare tactics wouldn’t work this time.

The US Embassy in Harare said in a tweet: “We condemn this week’s election-related violence, and we stand with the people of Zimbabwe and its leaders to say no to violence.”

Obey Shava, a member of the CCC legal team, was attacked by four unidentified men.

They broke his legs and left him for dead on Wednesday evening.

In a statement, the Southern African Litigation Center (SALC) said: “Protecting the freedom of speech, including the safety of lawyers who advocate for dissenting voices, is a fundamental pillar of upholding democracy in any country.”

SALC joined other civil society groups in calling for calm during the election season and for justice to be served in Shava’s case.

A CCC candidate in Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park, Pashor Raphael Sibanda, tweeted that he had narrowly escaped Zanu-PF violence during his door-to-door election campaign on Friday.

On Wednesday, Tariq Mahmood Ahmad, or Lord Ahmad, in the UK parliament emphasised that the UK was following developments in Zimbabwe closely.

He said:

We are fully seized with the different abuses of human rights, which regrettably and tragically continue to happen. Even this morning, I have heard of further arrests in that respect.

“The information is still coming through, but I am aware of further arrests that have been made. We have called for full transparency and the release of those being held in an arbitrary fashion, and indeed, when cases are being pressed, that those court cases are held in a transparent form.”

The CCC has been making inroads into Zanu-PF’s traditional strongholds through rallies.

But in some instances, the police have denied the opposition the right to stage its rallies for varying reasons.

On Wednesday, the CCC was denied permission to hold its rally in Chivi because Zanu-PF allegedly booked the same venue a day in advance, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said in a letter.

The CCC then suggested holding its rally in Mhandamabwe a few kilometres away, but the police also denied this request.

On Friday, another CCC rally that was due to be held on Saturday in Bindura was not granted permission by the police.

The police argued that they “had reservations in respect of the sustainability of the venue, taking into account all relevant security factors necessary”.

The police also argued that the venue was an undeveloped piece of land and posed an environmental danger.

Above all, the police said there were no “serviceable” roads to the venue.

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