Press reports for week ending 26 May 2000
This section contains a selection of the press reports on political violence. The facts contained in these reports have not been independently verified.

MDC supporters arrested in Mabvuku, Herald 23 May 2000.
Eight suspected Movement for Democratic Change supporters were arrested in Mabvuku, Harare, on Sunday after they allegedly assaulted two people in separate incidents. The Officer-In-Charge of Mabvuku Police Station, Inspector Alison Nyamupaguma, confirmed the arrests and said investigations were continuing. "We are holding eight people believed to be MDC supporters in connection with the beatings that occurred on Sunday night," he said. It is suspected that the eight arrested are part of a gang operating in Mabvuku hired to intimidate Zanu (PF) members.

Narrating his ordeal yesterday, Cde Lexon Mukavhi, who was severely beaten by the gang for wearing the Constitutional Commission "Yes" T-shirt, said the gang had intended to kill him had he not been saved by a Kukura Kurerwa bus crew. "They said they wanted to kill me because Zanu (PF) had killed so many people and I was going to be their MDC statistics." Cde Mukavhi said he was abducted by four people, as he was walking away from a Zanu (PF) rally. Earlier during the day, both the MDC and Zanu (PF) had held separate rallies in the suburb. "They handcuffed me and took me to a house at Number 68 Chipita Road and threatened me with knives before tying me in the toilet where they beat my toes using hammers and steel rods. After the beating, they bundled me in a navy blue Peugeot 504 and drove to Mabvuku turn-off where they said they intended to finish me off. "The four men were armed with a spear, catapults and a bicycle axle. During the tussle with the men, I managed to run in front of an oncoming Kukura Kurerwa bus." "It was then that the bus crew effected a civilian arrest on two of the men and drove to Mabvuku Police Station", said Cde Mukavhi, who is a teacher at Mabvuku High School. He suffered two broken ribs and a swollen face.

Cde Mukavhi is the second victim to fall prey to the same gang after it severely beat another man, Cde Romeo Tugwe, on Saturday night. Cde Tugwe, a commuter omnibus driver, was severely beaten and suffered multiple fractures on both hands. "The gang accused me of having been sent with a petrol bomb to destroy the MDC parliamentarian aspirant's house. "I was taken to a house with a big black gate and a high durawall (68 Chipita Road) where they assaulted me using iron rods, saying I should not support Zanu (PF) and they were going to kill me. They then made a false statement to the police that they had found me with a petrol bomb and by then my hands and face were already swollen. It's painful because I am not actively involved in politics and now that both my hands are in plasters and l lost my drivers' licence and some money, my family is going to starve," said Cde Tugwe, who was visibly in pain.

Mabvuku and Tafara have been generally peaceful compared to other suburbs that have been engulfed by political violence in the past month. The violence is believed to be incited by MDC supporters who are hired from Mufakose, Epworth, Dzivarasekwa and Highfields to destroy houses of active Zanu (PF) members. Two houses belonging to Zanu (PF) members, including that of the war veterans' secretary for projects for Harare province, Cde Ernest Mutsoto, have been petrol bombed.

People have already died as a result of political violence and property worth $14 million destroyed since January this year. A total of 431 people from different political parties have been arrested following 202 clashes.

The Minister of Home Affairs, Cde Dumiso Dabengwa, has condemned acts of violence and has instructed the police "to deal ruthlessly" with any culprits caught engaging in violent activities.

Disruption of Zanu (PF) rally by MDC Herald 24 May 2000.
A rally scheduled to be addressed by Zanu (PF) candidate for Mazowe West, Cde Chris Kuruneri was cancelled on Sunday after an unruly mob of suspected MDC attacked Zanu (PF) supporters gathered at Mvurwi Stadium. Police yesterday said that Cde Kurureri was preparing to address the rally attended by several thousant supporters when the toyi-toying mob began hurling insults insults at and beating up Zanu (PF) supporters who were outside the stadium.Two alleged MDC supporters were arrested. Scores of people were injured and property worth several thousands of dollars was destroyed. Although police, some of whom had to be called from Guruve, about 50 km away, restored order, the rally could not go on because of the volatile climate. "Yes, the MDC supporters forced the rally to be cancelled after they attacked the Zanu (PF) supporters. We are now trying to establish who may have instructed them to do so in order to effect more arrests," said Assistant Inspector Tarwireyi Tirivavi of the Police General Headquarters. He called on party supporters to be more tolerant to ensure that next month’s elections were free and fair.

On the same day eight suspected MDC supporters in Mabvuku, Harare, after they allegedly beat up two people in separate incidents.

MDC members arrested in Glen View Daily News 22 May 2000.
Police arrested 17 MDC supporters in Glen View on Saturday night, as they prepared for a rally at Glen View 3 shopping centre, MDC spokesman Nomore Sibanda said yesterday. "There are some guys who were picked up by the police. These were our members organising for today's rally at Glen View 3 shopping centre," Sibanda said. He said the members, mostly youths, were rounded up late on Saturday and were being held at Harare Central Police Station. They had not been charged, he said.

Senior Assistant Commissioner, Emmanuel Chimwanda, the officer commanding Harare province, confirmed the arrests yesterday and said the 17 would be charged for behaviour likely to cause public disorder. He said: "There was a group of MDC supporters who gathered near a shopping centre saying they wanted to avenge the death of their colleague who died last week." "The police dispersed the gathering but they returned in a truck shouting through a hailer that they would not be appeased until they had avenged their colleague's death. That is when some of them were arrested," Chimwanda said. "They were inciting others to violence and we have always discouraged this incitement," he said.

Takundwa Chipunza, an MDC supporter, died in hospital on Wednesday from injuries sustained during clashes between Zanu PF and MDC supporters in Budiriro 3, on Tuesday night. There has been an upsurge of political violence in the Glen View and Budiriro areas in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for 24 and 25 June. On Tuesday night, 13 people were injured while five buildings were damaged in Budiriro during clashes between MDC supporters and Zanu PF supporters led by a group of war veterans. During the clashes, angry MDC supporters allegedly stoned a surgery at Budiriro 3 Shopping Centre belonging to war veterans' leader, Chenjerai Hunzvi. The surgery was allegedly being used as a detention centre and torture chamber for opponents of Zanu PF. Forty-seven people were arrested in connection with the violence and are expected to appear in court for causing public violence.

Houses belonging to MDC supporters, Beauty Chakanyuka and Spiwe Chirimuta, and Mostaff Chirau, were caught in the cross-fire. They were damaged in the ensuing violence. Police arrested 30 people in connection with the violence in which other 17 people were injured.

MDC blamed for starting the violence Herald 22 May 2000.
Minister of State Security, Sidney Sekeremayi, blamed the MDC for starting political violence. He blamed the MDC for starting the violence by beating up people in Mahusekwa, Landas, Marondera and other areas throughout the country.

Sekeremayi urged people to vote peacefully during elections. "Election monitors are coming and some are already here. We want to hold elections peacefully. We do not want the monitors to write reports that people were intimidated." Sekeremayi, commended the white farmers and the farm workers who attended the rally but said he hoped the surrender of the T-shirts showed they really meant that they had left the MDC. "I would want to hope that they are telling the truth and that even their workers are telling the truth. If not, the truth will always come out."

MDC urged to fight back against intimidation BBC report 22 May 2000.
The opposition leader in Zimbabwe has called on his supporters to fight back against intimidation and violence from pro-government groups. Speaking at an election rally outside the capital, Harare, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change, said his party was not condoning violence, but that he was talking of legitimate self-defence. At least seventeen supporters of Mr Tsvangirai were arrested as they began gathering for the rally at Glen View. A party spokesman said the arrests were part of a continuing campaign of intimidation against the opposition and showed that parliamentary elections scheduled for June would not be free and fair. Zimbabwe has been swept by a wave of violence and occupation of land owned by white farmers since President Robert Mugabe lost a referendum on constitutional change, which would have given him more powers.

The opposition accuses Mr Mugabe of orchestrating the violence to distract voters from the dismal state of the economy.

Zanu (PF) brings Marondera to halt Daily News 22 May 2000.
Marondera was at a standstill yesterday after Zanu PF youths forced businesses to shut and residents to attend a Zanu PF rally by the ruling party's parliamentary candidate for Marondera East constituency, Sydney Sekeramayi, at Rudhaka stadium. Shops, fuel stations, market stalls and even tuck shops in the town's high density suburbs were all closed. People were not allowed to leave the town as buses were barred from ferrying them. Farmers surrounding the town ferried their workers in lorries and tractor-drawn trailers to the rally. Zanu PF youths, in trucks, went from door to door yesterday morning ordering residents to attend the rally. Teachers at Watershed College and Grasslands Primary School, who had not complied with the order to attend the meeting, were assaulted. "I think the people just panicked when they were threatened. The Zanu PF leadership told their members not to hit people," said one resident. Zanu PF youths ordered businesses to close. They allegedly looted goods in Marowa Supermarket at Nyameni shopping centre because it remained open. Sekeramayi, the Minister of State Security, said that Rudhaka Stadium had never been that full since independence. About 10 000 people attended the rally, some from as far as Tandi near Rusape in Manicaland and others from Wedza.

Mashonaland East province, the province most affected by political violence, had the largest number of "No" votes in the referendum for the draft constitution in February. Four farmers in Beatrice, Macheke and Nyamandlovu have since died, including a number of undisclosed farm workers and opposition party members.

Yesterday people were not allowed to leave once they gained entrance into the stadium. Provincial Governor David Karimanzira, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicholas Goche, Deputy Minister of Health, David Parirenyatwa, his wife, the Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Lieutenant General Constantine Chiwenga, and Chief Svosve attended the rally. Sekeramayi brought 50 Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) T-shirts and party cards to the rally. Some T-shirts had blood stains. It was not clear when they were surrendered to Zanu PF supporters. "After the votes we will see who has been cheating us and we will deal with each other," he said. He warned teachers against teaching politics saying they should stick to the syllabus.

Meanwhile at another Zanu PF rally held at Juru growth point, the Zanu PF Mashonaland East provincial chairman, Paddy Zhanda, urged people in the province to stop the orgy of violence that has seen teachers fleeing for safety as violent clashes between Zanu PF and MDC supporters increased. Speaking at the rally attended by more than 3 000 people from the surrounding farming communities and communal lands, Zhanda said political violence should not be allowed to disturb children from attending lessons. Schools in the area that have been closed due to violence are Nyamutumbu, Mukombami, Gosha, and Chikupo secondary and primary schools.

Mugabe controls war vets Daily News 22 May 2000.
Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi, the chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA), told the High Court on Thursday that only President Mugabe has the power to call off the farm invasions led by pro-government former fighters and Zanu PF supporters. "It is President Mugabe’s prerogative to end the invasions. It is his prerogative that the war veterans are on the farms. He said they could remain on the farms and ordered the police not to evict them. I cannot challenge him," said Hunzvi, before leaving the Harare High Court building along Samora Machel Avenue in his chauffeur-driven Mercedes Benz E230.

Hordes of war veterans and Zanu PF supporters moved into commercial farms after Zimbabweans rejected a government-sponsored draft constitution in a national referendum in February. Although President Mugabe publicly accepted the people's democratic choice at the time, hordes of war veterans and pro-government supporters swept through commercial farms unleashing an orgy of violence that has claimed at least 23 Zimbabweans, including four commercial farmers. Mugabe condoned the invasions, setting in motion a campaign that rendered the police powerless and exposed Zimbabwe to a level of lawlessness last seen 20 years ago.

Code-named Operation Tsuro, the campaign aims at smashing the opposition in commercial farms and communal areas. So far 5 300 villagers have sought refuge in towns and cities because of the terror that has disrupted agriculture, heightened racial tension and attracted widespread international condemnation.

Last week Hunzvi was in court for failing to stop the farm invasions. He was lucky to escape a mandatory jail sentence after the commercial farmers, fearing further violence, pleaded with the court for leniency. Justice George Bartlett of the High Court, after considering the submissions, fined Hunzvi $10 000 and sentenced him to a suspended three months' term. Bartlett had convicted Hunzvi of contempt of court on 19 April, for failing to abide by an earlier order by Justice Paddington Garwe to evict the war veterans. Bartlett gave him up to 5 May to comply with the order before passing sentence. After the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) consulted its lawyer Advocate Firoz Girach, it changed its position. Girach then argued against the imposition of a custodial sentence against Hunzvi, saying it was undesirable at the moment. The CFU feared a possible backlash and a disruption of the delicate negotiations on land if Hunzvi was thrown into jail. Hunzvi's lawyers, Jasper Musimbe and Joseph Chinyama, both of Musunga and Associates, had pleaded with Bartlett to impose a suspended sentence. Incarcerating or fining Hunzvi was inappropriate since he had tried to comply with the order, they said. Tim Henwood, the CFU’s president, said his union had an obligation to deal with Hunzvi because they knew of no other leader whom they could deal with. "It is true that Hunzvi himself has complained of factionalism in his association and he has referred to those opposed to him as dissidents," he said. "He wanted to take such members to Vice-president Joseph Msika for disciplinary purposes, but I am not aware whether he has done so." He said although Hunzvi had advised war veterans to be peaceful, he had not instructed them to vacate the farms as has been declared in the original order by Garwe on 17 March. Asked if he was pleased with the sentence, a grinning Hunzvi retorted: "How can I be happy to be punished? Are you happy being punished?"

Villagers flee terror in thousands Daily News 22 May 2000.
At least 5 300 people, mostly villagers and schoolteachers, have been displaced by political violence in rural Mashonaland as Zanu PF intensifies its terror campaign against the opposition, says ZimRights national director, Munyaradzi Bidi. In an interview, Bidi said the political refugees started coming into their offices two weeks ago, but some had been displaced from as early as last month. War veterans and Zanu PF supporters started their reign of terror against villagers and schoolteachers following the rejection of the historic government-sponsored draft constitution in February. The ensuing violence has left at least 23 people, including four farmers dead. The villagers abandoned their homes after being attacked or issued with threats of violence from Zanu PF supporters and war veterans. The violent campaign involves all-night rallies, a census of party-card holders and the introduction of brutal loyalty lessons for villagers and civil servants, especially schoolteachers. All-night rallies were common during the height of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation in the 1970s ZimRights had identified a safe house on the outskirts of Harare where some of the political refugees will stay, he said. The refugees will be moved from another safe house in Tynwald suburb.

Godwin Mutambirwa, United Parties (UP), deputy secretary-general, said 49 people, 10 of them children of school-going age, came to UP offices for help. "They are still coming in," he said. "Others are approaching our Bulawayo, Mutare, Chimanimani and Kwekwe offices while others are staying with their relatives. They are yet others who have just moved from their houses but have not reported this." He said the displaced persons were receiving food provided by well-wishers, mainly whites and farmers. There was need for clothes and blankets for them. "They eat whatever we can get for them, mostly just bread and buns. They sleep around a fire in an open space whose location we can't reveal for security reasons." Suspected Central Intelligence Organisation agents, said Bidi, had gone to the Tynwald safe house asking for information on ZimRights officials. "They enquired about the political affiliation of the people that were being kept at the safe house and of the ZimRights officials, and chairman, Nicholas Ndebele," he said. "They also asked for our vehicle registration number plates."

Clement Moyo, ZimRights chairman for Bulawayo, had received three threats, the latest being 10 days ago, when four men came to his Gwabalanda house. His family members screamed and the men fled. Moyo said he had reported the matter to Luveve police.

Ex-Zanu PF MPs blamed for violence in Matabeleland Daily News 24 May 2000.
Former Zanu PF Members of Parliament in Matabeleland have been blamed for the mounting political violence in the province as the election dates draw closer. The MPs, it is alleged, are exploiting the reign of terror of the army's notorious North Korean-trained 5 Brigade to cow villagers into voting for them in the face of a strong challenge from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Nicholas Ngwabi, a former teacher who spoke from the relative safety of Bulawayo after fleeing his Matole home in Plumtree, blamed the MPs for inciting war veterans and Zanu PF supporters to beat up opposition party members. Nursing a broken leg and arm after a surprise night attack at his home, Ngwabi, who says he will remain in Bulawayo until after the elections, named the MPs he accused of using death threats during the campaign. Efforts to get comment from the accused MPs were fruitless. But a senior Zanu PF official in Bulawayo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, conceded that individuals were taking advantage of the trauma suffered by the people of Matabeleland in the early 1980s. He said reports had been received of campaigners using intimidation. That, he insisted, was not official Zanu PF policy.

Ngwabi said an MP told a rally at Zimnyama that if the people did not support Zanu PF, the feared 5 Brigade would be brought back to terrorise them. The MP is alleged to have issued the threat when asked why Zanu PF always insulted the MDC at its rallies. Ngwabi named another MP he said had mocked him at a meeting where he had been introduced as "Ngwabi, the ZimRights representative". The MP, claims Ngwabi, asked where "ZimWrong" was. An organisation in Bulawayo that works with torture victims said it had received complaints of another Zanu PF MP who threatened those that did not vote for him with "disappearance".

Abducted teachers still missing Daily News 24 May 2000.
Two Chimanimani schoolteachers abducted by a group of war veterans and Zanu PF supporters on Thursday last week, were still missing yesterday, police in Mutare said. A group of war veterans and Zanu PF supporters, descended on the village in two trucks last Tuesday morning. Their first stop was at Charter Estates sawmill where they brought business to a standstill for the following two days. A Beverly Building Society branch in the town had to close because of the disturbances. During a three-day terror campaign which lasted on Friday, the group allegedly raided Tiya Primary School and assaulted four school teachers with sticks and whips, accusing them of supporting the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Police said the war veterans abducted three of the schoolteachers and detained them at a camp they have established at Charleshood Farm. The farm was surrendered by MDC member, Roy Bennet, who said he would rather give up his land than renounce his party. The war veterans and their allies beat up the three schoolteachers and later released one of them. Police said the two were not yet back at work by yesterday and their whereabouts were not known. Police spokesman, Inspector Francis Mubvuta said: "We are investigating assault cases at Nyangu, Tiya and Chimanimani schools. We have the names of suspects who may be charged with assault."

The invaders beat up three schoolteachers at Nyangu secondary and Chimanimani primary schools. Frightened farmers fled from their homes with their families and the village post office was closed last Thursday. War veterans and Zanu PF supporters started terrorising the villagers and schoolteachers following the rejection of the historic government-sponsored draft constitution in February. The ensuing violence has left at least 23 people, including four white farmers dead. So far, 5 300 villagers have sought refuge in towns and cities, says ZimRights.

Terror in Chimanimani Guardian 25 May 2000.
They arrived with lists of schools, businesses and individuals suspected of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and began hunting them down. They took over the town's secondary and primary schools and dragged the teachers from their classrooms. Some teachers accused of being MDC supporters were stripped naked in front of their students. Many were beaten, some unconscious. Several teachers were hospitalised and three headmasters are still missing. By the standards of Zimbabwe's increasingly brutal election campaign, Chimanimani got off lightly at the weekend. But the hit squad trained and funded by President Robert Mugbe's ruling Zanu-PF had done its job. Today, Chimanimani, a quiet, prosperous town on Zimbabwe's eastern mountains is half deserted. Most people avoid speaking to outsiders.

Next stop on the gang's tour was the Border Timbers estate and lumber mill. After several workers were beaten and management was threatened, the company decided to close down all operations. Border Timbers employs 3 500 people and had export orders worth US$18m (£11m) last year. The company has since re-opened.

Mugabe's men also invaded the farm of the MDC parliamentary candidate for Chimanimani, Roy Bennett. In response to death threats, Bennett said he would rather give up his farm than his allegiance to the MDC. But he left Chimanimani with his wife, Heather, after the war veterans had held her hostage for several hours. Bennett tried to return to his farm yesterday, but he was warned by police that the occupiers were armed and would shoot him dead. His once prosperous coffee farm is now a shambles from looting and destruction. Many of his 600 workers have been badly beaten.

"The war veterans intimidated everyone in the town," said a local woman. "Tellers at the bank, workers at Zesa [the state electric power company], the post office and the PTC [the phone company] were all threatened and followed when they went home from work. Some were beaten and their homes ransacked."

The police have promised to protect people from violence, even if it comes from visiting thugs from Zanu-PF, but things have not returned to normal in Chimanimani. There are no tourists and the normally popular hotels and lodges are empty.

At the weekend people were told to attend a rally for the Zanu-PF parliamentary candidate, Munacho Mutezo. About 2 000 showed up, many in vehicles commandeered from Bennett's farm. Mutezo, the chairman of Time Bank in Harare, made a big show of the MDC T-shirts and membership cards, which he said had been "surrendered" by people at the rally. "There are hundreds here who have rejoined Zanu-PF," Mutezo said. "People are deserting the MDC for Zanu-PF out of free choice."

The intimidation of Chimanimani is not an isolated incident. Zanu-PF has sent squads to Kariba, Mutoko, Murehwa and Masvingo and other provincial centres. In Harare and Bulawayo, the townships have been brutalised by gangs who go door to door.

"We are afraid and we hope things will get back to normal soon," said a man in Chimanimani. "But people still want change. We hope that if we are quiet now, we will be able to vote for change when the time comes."

Political violence continues Standard 21 May 2000.
The political violence which has rocked the country in the past months, has continued unabated with more reports of war veterans and Zanu PF supporters harassing and terrorising supporters of the opposition parties. Scores of Zanu PF supporters and liberation war veterans, last week ran amok at Charleswood Estate in Chimanimani and allegedly abducted the headmaster of the primary school there. Police officers in Chimanimani confirmed that there had been disturbances when the war veterans invaded the estate and harassed workers and some school teachers at Pachedu Primary school on the estate. The Standard understands the headmaster was abducted and later released by the war veterans.

Reports from Gwanda, in Matabeleland South, say Zanu PF held an "official hand over rally" where opposition party members were forced to surrender their party cards and T-shirts. In Plumtree, war veterans and Zanu PF supporters yesterday forced the closure of shops at the business centre, in preparation for a star rally expected to be addressed by the Bulilima- mangwe South member of parliament, Simon Khaya Moyo. Moyo is also the minister of mines, environment and tourism. This comes after Zanu PF unleashed the liberation war veterans on the rural electorate in the second phase of its campaign to counter any progress made by the MDC in the race for votes.

In the urban areas, the war veterans have embarked on a door to door campaign to assure themselves of support for the ruling party. In Mufakose, last week, Zanu PF supporters forced people to attend a political rally held at a preschool. This did not go down well with those opposed to the rally, resulting in fierce clashes.

Zanu PF supporters, disguised as war veterans, have now also begun invading Harare’s low density areas. A gardener was beaten up and left for dead just last week in Borrowdale’s Lark Rise area, by a group of Zanu PF youths armed with an AK rifle. They were allegedly driving a lorry, which they used to knock down the gates of people—mainly members of the white community—and then asked them to present their passports for inspection. The government recently demanded the surrender of all British passports saying Zimbabwe did not allow for dual citizenship. Six families were attacked and had some of their property taken, last week alone. They are also said to have been warned to leave the country or face the consequences.

In Chitungwiza, riot police allegedly beat up people on Friday night, after pouncing on them as they were drinking beer inside a bar. About 22 people were injured in the skirmish.

War vets, Zanu PF youths stop Daily News deliveries Daily News 24 May 2000.
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) trucks have stopped delivering The Daily News to Shurugwi and Murehwa after vendors and delivery truck drivers were threatened by Zanu PF supporters and war veterans. Kennedy Midzi, the ANZ circulation manager, said yesterday the newspaper was being sold under police guard in Kwekwe. "We are no longer delivering the newspaper to Murehwa centre and Shurugwi. At Murehwa centre last week, the vendors were told to leave after they had sold only two copies out of a 500," Midzi said. "The wave of political violence is affecting our circulation and we are failing to deliver about 2 000 copies because some of the areas have become inaccessible." He said in Shurugwi, war veterans and Zanu PF supporters have put up posters warning that The Daily News was not to be sold there. The newspaper is enjoying phenomenal success from readers and advertisers. Last month, it hit the 100 000 sales mark to become the largest circulating daily newspaper in the country. "We last delivered the newspaper to Shurugwi a fortnight ago because the war veterans and Zanu PF supporters have threatened vendors, truck drivers and drivers of conventional buses who deliver the newspaper to that area," Midzi said.

Raffingora farmer harassed Daily News 24 May 2000.
Jean Simon, a commercial farmer in Raffingora, has allegedly been tormented by war veterans who have been on a rampage in the area over the past two weeks. Last week, she was forced out of her house and taken away by a group of war veterans before she was released. She had been made to walk to a "re-education session" at a nearby farm about five kilometres away. Worried relatives thought she had been abducted. She owns Erewon Farm where she lives by herself. She also owns Nswala and Hover farms. Inspector Bothwell Mugariri, the police spokesman, said Simon had not been kidnapped. Relatives said Simon was petrified when a group of ex-combatants raided her farm and ordered her out of her house last week. The war veterans are said to have forced her to walk to nearby Nchefu Farm. Mugariri said Simon was unharmed. "She was taken from her home and made to chant slogans," said Mugariri. "She was only taken to a meeting that was being held by war veterans and farmers in the area."

It is understood Chenjerai Hunzvi, the leader of the war veterans, was in Raffingora holding meetings with white commercial farmers last week. "Simon was handed over at the meeting," said Mugariri. Three days later, she was force-marched to her supermarket by the war veterans. She was forced to load beer into one of her cars and take it to the war veterans' "camp" in Raffingora. "She was screaming and these war veterans were already drunk," said a farmer at the supermarket. "I could not help her because I was outnumbered."

Yesterday, Hover Farm, one of her properties, was invaded by the war veterans. A farmer in the area said Simon rushed to Chinhoyi to seek help from the Commercial Farmers' Union. The war veterans allegedly evicted a farm manager and occupied his house.

Residents who called The Daily News said the war veterans and Zanu PF supporters, moving in vehicles, had mounted a reign of terror in Raffingora. They said the gangs were assaulting farm workers and others in the area, telling them to support Zanu PF or risk the consequences of not doing so. The terror campaigns resulted in the closure of Raffingora Secondary School. School authorities, however, said all was normal yesterday. Meanwhile, Western donors are unlikely to resume vital aid to Zimbabwe’s struggling economy before the country overhauls its political and economic policies, and perhaps not for years, analysts were reported saying yesterday.

Why farmers opposed Hunzvi’s jailing Financial Gazette 25 May 2000.
The Commercial Farmers’ Union opposed the jailing of Chenjerai Hunzvi, leader of Zimbabwe’s independence war veterans over contempt of court charges, because it feared his followers would unleash more violence on farmers, a CFU leader said this week. "We opposed a custodial sentence for the simple reason that we feared increased violence on farms if that sentence was effected," CFU director David Hasluck told the Financial Gazette. "We had to take into consideration the safety of our members." He was commenting on a ruling last week by the High Court, which fined Hunvzi $10 000 and sentenced him to a wholly suspended three-month jail term for flouting the court’s earlier judgment ordering that he takes steps to end invasions of farms by his members.

Hasluck reported more cases of farm occupations at the weekend in Masvingo, Chiredzi, Mwenezi, Concession, Shamva and Harare West which had disrupted farming. There were also more cases of intimidation of farmers and workers in Mashonaland West, Raffingora and Karoi, he said. "More cases of farm occupations continue to occur as well as intimidation of farmers by the veterans. We are getting little assistance from the authorities to stop this problem," Hasluck said. "All these actions which continue to happen on the farms are in breach of President Robert Mugabe’s call for peace on the farms."

Mugabe has called for an end to the violence on the farms but backed the invasions. He has shrugged off two High Court orders outlawing the invasions and publicly said he will not order the veterans off the farms, 1 300 of which are now under seizure. Commercial farmers said a truce brokered by them and the veterans was meaningless as long as violence on the farms continued. Hasluck said some veterans invading some farms in the past few weeks were ordering farmers to vacate their properties altogether while telling others not to plant any new crops and to remove their livestock. Most farmers had since stopped planting winter crops, a development likely to trigger food shortages, especially of bread, in the coming months.