ZANU PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman John Mafa has called on party members to desist from political violence in the run-up to harmonised elections expected this year, saying those who kill opponents risked the “unrelenting” wrath of avenging spirits.
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Mafa made the remarks while addressing participants at a workshop organised by the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic) in Chinhoyi last week.
“Elections are around the corner and some political leaders will be tempted to employ violence in order to win votes. My appeal to youths, who are mostly used by politicians to perpetrate violence, is to refrain from these heinous acts as avenging spirits won’t attack the politician who sent you or the party, but would haunt you for the rest of your lives. Avenging spirits are there, they are real,” he said.
The Zanu PF provincial boss said supporters must report to police all cases of intimidation, provocation and thuggery, including intra-party skirmishes.
Presenting the Jomic Mashonaland West 2012 report, MDC liaison officer Sibongile Mgijima said the province received 40 complaints including four of arson and one shooting incident. Others were assault (9), intimidation/harassment (13), patronising party events (two) and three appeals for intervention.
Hurungwe district remained with the highest levels of political intolerance, Mgijima said.
Police Assistant Commissioner (crime and administration) Bobby Murwira said it was police duty to “interpret and operationalise” peace calls by principals to the Global Political Agreement President Robert Mugabe (Zanu PF), Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and Welshman Ncube (MDC), who have at various forums repeatedly denounced violence.
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Murwira said police had adopted zero-tolerance against violence and perpetrators would be arrested regardless of their political affiliation and social standing.
