We have been informed that the harmonised elections are just around the corner, although there seems to be a dispute over the date.
Opinion by Ropafadzo Mapimhidze
This is one period that is dreaded in Zimbabwe because elections are synonymous with violence that results in rape, serious injuries and of warring party members.
Election periods send fear particularly to the womenfolk who bear the brunt of the violence that is perpetrated against the population.
Women are guardians of many households, and when their male guardians escape for safety, they are left at home fending for small children and the sick.
But they then become targets for rape and other forms of sadistic violence like what happened to one woman in Manicaland whose reproductive organs were stuffed with sticks and stones after she had been gang-raped.
The woman underwent an operation to remove her uterus which had been damaged beyond repair.
In Buhera, a polygamous man fled his homestead leaving his 10 wives at the mercy of assailants who had targeted him. It was so bad that two are believed to have been infected with HIV.
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The liberation war, Gukurahundi, food riots, farm invasions, Operation Murambatsvina and post-2000 elections witnessed terrible torture, death and sexual violence against people of this country, a situation that calls for sanity this time around.
However, human rights violations against both men and women have generally been widespread during election years and so it was not surprising that torture would resurface this time around.
Neither public health institutions nor the Zimbabwe Republic Police made any reports about these disturbing incidents. Survivors of violence were admitted to private institutions like Dandaro in Borrowdale, Avenues Clinic, Michael Gelfand and many other small privately-owned clinics.
The scenes from these hospitals were disturbing. Men had their arms and legs severed by assailants while others sustained severe burns after their homes had been petrol-bombed.
There are growing fears that a repeat of this torture might prevail in the urban centres this year, as some villagers have since started relocating to the cities for safety.
A woman in Budiriro claims that her rural-based landlord has made intentions of moving into his house for at least three months to avoid being caught up in clashes.
But there are also fears that violence would this time target urban dwellers as wind of this movement has been recorded. All reports of the 2008 election violence have similar findings according to a research by the Centre of Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
“Overwhelming majority of the alleged perpetrators are supporters of Zanu PF, and that State agents too are reported as perpetrators with high frequency.”
The Solidarity Peace Trust report indicated that Zanu PF youths were the most frequent perpetrators identified, and that Zanu PF, as a whole, was the most common perpetrator.
With the inclusion of “war veterans”, these groups comprise 83% of all alleged perpetrators. This is wholly in keeping with previous reports.
It can also be seen that State security agencies — the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe National Army and Central Intelligence Organisation — are also a significant percentage (18%) of the total perpetrators, but the percentage drops in later months from 27%.
“This drop seems to have been predicated on the State agents having completed their role in driving the violence and having set in train processes that could continue without management.”
The economy continues to spiral downwards and it will be wrong for the international community, including the Southern African Development Community, to downplay the violence that has taken place in Zimbabwe since 2000 when land invasions started.
Zimbabweans have since become one of the most mobile Africans around the globe, after Nigerians, as professionals leave in their thousands for better fortunes in neighbouring countries or overseas.
Who would want to remain or invest in a country that is economically unstable, and one that does not guarantee safety for its nationals? The next elections will not be any different from what has happened in the past. The torture machinery is already gearing up for its next campain of reign of terror, which will obviously result in even worse consequences.
I urge the warring parties to have a heart for women and children who are sometimes innocent victims of political violence. Women are the guardians of our land.
