Zimbabwe: A Day in Hell: an eye witness account

Update June 2000, (name withheld to protect the author) FROM EISA Zimababwe Election Update 2000, 1, 5 June, 11.

The 2000 Zimbabwe elections will go down in history as the bloodiest and most controversial. Political parties are at each other's throat. Murders, tortures, beatings, you name it are the order of the day and are happening right under the nose of the police. The police are doing little or nothing about it.

On 5 May 2000 I decided to go to the rural areas, formerly Tribal Trust Lands (TTLs) to visit my aunt but mainly to analyse the political situation down there. Headed for Mushunje village in Marange area, in Bocha, Mutare.

About 5 km from Mutare our bus was stopped by about 30 men and women dressed in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) 'T' shirts - a labour based opposition party which is expected to give a tough challenge to the ruling ZANU PF government. They were well armed, what! with axes, spears, knobkerries and God knows what else.

Five of them entered the bus and raise an open palm and chanted MDC slogan, "Chinja Maitiro". Out of a full bus load of 78 passengers only 10 people responded to the slogan. We were all asked to disembark to witness a clip out of hell when the unfortunate 10 were given a sound beating. The perpetrators had by now removed the MDC 'T" shirts to reveal the ruling party campaign "T' shirts.

"These people are sell outs. They want to return the country to the white men. None of that is going to happen. ZANU PF is going to rule until donkeys grow horns." After a good 15 minutes of witnessing the murderous beatings we were asked to proceed with our journey minus the 10 who were going to be taken to some secret base to get some more beatings.

Back in the bus nobody said anything to anyone for the remainder of the journey. Arriving at Mushunje 'township' we found a political rally in full swing. We were all subject to a body search, boxes, bags and trunks were searched for any item and opposition party membership cards. One shivers to think what could have happened to anyone who could have possessed the 'forbidden items'.

By the time they were done with the searches and were asked to sit down a woman calling her self Mai Shamhu had taken the stand. She went on tell us how she had been sent by the President to re-educate the masses and warn them of the danger of the MDC. The opposition was evil, run by 'sell outs' who want to bring back war into Zimbabwe.

The ruling party is not going to take this sitting down. They are going to kill all known MDC supporters. Don't be fooled by people coming from town. They are the ones mostly supporting MDC. So if your child, brother or husband is supporting MDC he or she better stay there in town because death will befall him when he/she comes to the communal areas.

She went on to say that on the voting day each local headman will to come with his people and vote. If that particular ballot box is later opened and is found to contain ballots papers with the 'x' on MDC then the whole village will get it. This was followed with a lot of singing and dancing.

As it was getting dark we were told that it was now time to go for the 'pungwe' - an all night singing, dancing and political education. And I haven't even got to my auntie's homestead!