Many injured in Zimbabwe voter registration exercise

by MERCY MUJURU
HARARE, (CAJ News) – SEVERAL opposition supporters have sustained serious injuries after alleged supporters of ZANU-PF party went on a rampage during the ongoing biometric voter registration exercise.

The latest violence has been experienced in the high density dormitory town of Chitugwiza where ten supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change of Morgan Tsvangiray (MDC-T) have been injured and hospitalised.

Some houses have been destroyed.

On Wednesday last week, unknown assailants assaulted three MDC-T supporters also in Chitungwiza.

The unknown men accused the opposition members of distributing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) fliers arguing that was solely the mandate of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

The matter was reported at Town Centre police station but no arrests had been made at the time of publication.

“We condemn the senseless and barbaric attacks on our party cadres in Chitungwiza by Zanu-PF thugs,” MDC-T spokesperson, Obert Gutu, said.

Heal Zimbabwe, the nongovernmental organisation, documented the violations.

It noted the organized acts of violence especially during electoral processes such as voter registration painted a gloomy picture of what lay ahead as the nation prepared for the 2018 elections.

“Such acts of violence also expose the high level of intolerance among political players which alone poses a serious threat to the holding of free, fair, peaceful and credible elections in 2018,” it said.

The organisation implored political parties to reign in on errant supporters who perpetrated violence.

“The police must also launch a thorough investigation and apprehend the culprits,” it added.

Zimbabwean police are seen as too partisan to President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF to deal with violent supporters.

– CAJ News