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Fresh fears after Zimbabwe violence – 23 Feb 2011

Fear of politically-motivated violence is rising in the run-up to elections expected later this year in Zimbabwe, according to Tearfund.

Since February 2009, Zimbabwe has been ruled by a government of national unity led by President Robert Mugabe, of ZANU PF, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Professor Arthur Mutambara of the other MDC faction. This has been the first time in three decades that President Mugabe has shared power and since then the country’s tottering economy has relatively stabilised.

But since the start of 2011 concerns have been growing that political stability is being undermined by orchestrated pro-ZANU violence which aims to disrupt the opposition when an election is called.

Tearfund is calling for action to address the violence and for the involvement of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Homes wrecked

Earlier this month, Tearfund partner, the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, was told of homes being destroyed in the Harare suburb of Mbare after residents perceived as opposition activists were forced out. Some 150 people, many of them women and children, sought refuge at a church in a nearby township.

A local church leader said, ‘People are gripped by fear and they have lost all confidence in the police. They can’t go to report this to the police when they know that nothing will be done to the perpetrators, so they have come to the church for refuge.’

There have also been running battles in the area between youth supporters of the ZANU PF and the MDC and this has also spilled into the city’s central business district where property has been destroyed and looted.

Arrests

In the past week, 45 people were arrested in Harare at a discussion meeting organised under the auspices of the International Socialist Organisation, accused of inciting an Egypt-style revolt. Similar incidents have been reported in Zimbabwe’s second biggest city, Bulawayo and in Kadoma, amid growing fears that President Mugabe intends to abandon the constitutional reform process.

Dadirai Chikwengo, Tearfund’s Programme Manager for Zimbabwe, said, ‘The church is concerned about the rate at which political unrest is unfolding in the country and how the violence is fast evolving into political chaos.We call on the government of national unity and SADC to provide a permanent solution to the issue of politically-motivated violence, especially in view of the fact that SADC is facilitating a road map for elections.’

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