Bulawayo peaceful ahead of poll

While huge swaths of Zimbabwe were under siege by pro-government militants, the second city of Bulawayo was quietly making itself an exception this week by preparing for municipal elections in relative peace, AFP reported on Thursday.

Police said that by Thursday they had recorded six instances of political violence ahead of the vote on Saturday and Sunday. Supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said they had suffered intimidation, but had refused to be provoked. The campaign in Bulawayo has been nothing like Zimbabwe’s last mayoral election in the southern town of Masvingo, where ZANU-PF militant forced people to attend rallies of the ruling party. Bulawayo has been even farther from the systematic beatings that marred a July by-election in the northern constituency of Bindura, and the Makoni-West by-election also due this weekend, the news agency said.

War veteran leader Joseph Chinotimba has spearheaded President Robert Mugabe’s campaign against the opposition. Part of the reason for the campaign’s relative peace in Bulawayo lies with the regional ZANU-PF committee, which decided not to rely on Chinotimba and his militant followers, AFP reported. The Bulawayo provincial executive told the party weeks ago that they would manage the campaign themselves, for fear that Chinotimba’s presence would spark violence that would turn voters away from the ruling party.