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Opposition candidates fear for their lives

    JOHANNESBURG

    Opposition parliamentary candidates in Zimbabwe are living in fear for their lives and do not feel safe enough to campaign in most of the country, the leader of the country's main opposition party has said.

    Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told a news conference on Thursday that only 25 of the country's 120 constituencies were secure enough "to allow free and safe campaigning."

    The country has been torn apart by strife between rival political parties in recent months, and the occupation of more than 1,000 white-owned farms by ruling party supporters.

    Meanwhile, police announced the death of Thadeus Rukuni, an MDC candidate who was murdered on Monday in his home in southern Bikita district by suspected ruling ZANU-PF supporters. His death brings to 28 the number people killed in rural violence since the campaign of intimidation started in February.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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