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Intra-party violence on the rise — ZPP

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THE Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has expressed concern over the surge in cases of intra-party violence as the country’s leading political parties, Z

THE Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has expressed concern over the surge in cases of intra-party violence as the country’s leading political parties, Zanu PF and MDC-T, gear up for their respective elective congresses.

VENERANDA LANGA SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER

The main opposition MDC-T is expected to hold its elective congress this month while Zanu PF’s is in December.

In a monthly monitor report for September, ZPP cited use of hate speech as leading most of the violence cases.

MDC-T was said to have recorded the highest number of cases of physical clashes while Zanu PF topped the list in terms of use of hate language.

“The intra-party fights manifested in a spate of public violence and war of words within the two parties, and there was an upsurge in the use of hate language with words like ‘Gamatox’ and ‘weevils’ becoming part of the political language,” ZPP said.

“While political leaders continued to fight at the national level, the levels of political violence remained subdued throughout the country with a total of 193 cases having been recorded during the month under review as compared to 196 witnessed in August.

“In Zanu PF, apart from the prominent power struggles on succession ahead of the elective congress in December, the entrance by First Lady Grace Mugabe has provided a new source of conflict within the party.”

ZPP said the intra-party fighting within Zanu PF intensified towards the end of the month after State media allegedly exposed 12 MPs for having links with Western governments in violation of the party’s rules.

“Violence marred most of the MDC-T congress preparations as party officials from Chitungwiza, Harare and Bulawayo provincial congresses openly exchanged blows.”

Other political violations noted in the report were those of property rights where Zanu PF youths and war veterans grabbed municipal and black-owned farmland.

“War veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda moved in to defend youths from Bulawayo who had invaded farms on the outskirts of the city arguing that they were victims of the current poor economic situation.”