Displaced still out on a limb

More than 5,000 people from three districts in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland Central Province displaced in violence in the run-up to the June elections have not returned to their homes because of continuing intimidation against opposition supporters, human rights activists told IRIN. Pesanai Mazambani of ZimRights said many of the displaced are from the Uzumba, Maramba and Pungwe villages in Murewa, some 40 km east of the capital Harare. “The bulk of the displaced villagers could not vote in the parliamentary elections following their flight from intimidation by supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF,” Mazambani said. He said ZimRights estimates that 500 homesteads were destroyed by gangs linked to ZANU-PF in pre-election violence. According to him, hundreds of cotton bales and maize cobs were also lost. “What is worrying is that in rural areas where violence has been strongest, no arrests have been made against the perpetrators of the intimidation,” said Mazambani. Mazambani said ZimRights is trying to assist the displaced to go back to their homes. “The difficulty, however, is that post-election violence in the three districts is still going on.” He said despite the fact that ZANU-PF won the Mashonaland East constituency, ZimRights suspected that ZANU-PF militants are on a campaign of retribution against opposition supporters. “The displaced are scared to go back to their homes as they fear for their lives,” he said. He added that many of the displaced are accommodated in churches, while others live with relatives outside the districts. ZANU-PF won 62 seats in the June parliamentary election, with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) taking 57 seats, becoming Zimbabwe’s first viable opposition since independence in 1980. However, international election monitors said the polls were marred by ZANU-PF intimidation. Mazambani stressed that it is continuing, and “the total disregard for the law is becoming widespread as intimidation increases and no action is being taken against the perpetrators.”