Some of our members were beaten by Zanu (PF) supporters who were sent there by Border Gezi to flush out MDC supporters. According to people in Manenga, Gezi arrived at that scene, dropped off the youth in his truck and then left them to unleash the violence. Our MDC supporters phoned us to say ‘we are being beaten’, so we sent our own youth to rescue them. We sent a lot of them, but when they got there they went amok and started beating Zanu (PF) in retaliation. There was a serious battle and Zanu (PF) were outnumbered. Some of our MDC youth were arrested; 11 of them are still on remand. But after that incident Zanu (PF) realised how strong MDC was and they became afraid to attack in Bindura area.

I had a rally at Musiwa business centre at the end of February. That used to be in my constituency, but has now been cut out. Gezi knows me well. We are both businessmen and both from Mashonaland Central. We used to interact. But before that rally, Gezi hired youth from Mashonaland East using vehicles supplied by Paddy Zhanda (the provincial chairman for Zanu (PF) Mashonaland East). These people came earlier. There were about 150 of them. They were armed, including with a gun. Some of our youth came early to put up posters. They beat six of them before I arrived. When I got there I saw this truck and a pick-up. There were people with iron bars, axes and hoes and I realised they couldn’t be our supporters as no one would come armed like that to a rally. This time I was driving a Mazda 626. I stopped in front of them. At first they didn’t attack me. The Zanu (PF) supporters were from another province and they didn’t know me. At least they knew the name, but not my face. But then they saw our supporters who were running towards me for help. They realised who I was and began coming to me with weapons saying, "Burn the car". I got out of my car and drew my firearm. They all rushed back and got into their truck. The driver wanted to speed off. I stopped the vehicle. They were farm labourers from Zhanda’s farm. Some were women. I managed to hold them until the police arrived and escorted them to Shamva police station. There were twelve people identified as having been trouble causers. They were arrested, but were released the same day. Apparently Zhanda and Border Gezi went to Shamva and got them. There are some police officers who are sympathetic and they told me what happened. The member in charge just said he had instructions from above to release them and there is no docket and no charges. I have come through hell on earth.

In April, we had booked a rally through the police in Mount Darwin. I am the national co-ordinator for Mashonaland Central so I do rallies in other constituencies to beef up support. We travelled to Mount Darwin the day before the rally and we wanted to put up in town. There were about 300 of us. We were stopped just before we reached there by the police and told to wait until their bosses would come and tell us why it was not safe to proceed. These people were supposed to come from the police station about 10 kms away. After waiting 40 minutes or so we decided to go to the police station to check why we were being told to wait. When we got to the police station we were told by the member in charge that Zanu (PF) doesn’t want us to have a rally; that Mount Darwin is a no-go area for MDC. We protested that it was unlawful; that the police had given the go-ahead for the rally and we wanted them to cover it. We were not allowed to leave the police camp and we slept there overnight. At 5:30 am, the Zanu (PF) youths came to the camp. We discovered that the member in charge had notified Kasukuwere that MDC were at the police camp. There were about 40 youths toyi toying and chanting slogans and more were said to be behind.

In the morning, the police told us to give them time. They said they needed more manpower so we decided to go to Rushinga for breakfast. We arrived in Rushinga and had food there. The police from Mount Darwin must have been telling Zanu (PF) to bring more people as they had seen our number. The member in charge in Rushinga is professional. He called me and told me that Zanu (PF) had mounted an ambush about 20 km from Mount Darwin and he was right. We decided to proceed as there was no other route to get to Mount Darwin. When we were approaching the spot we saw lots of police officers in Santana and Defender police vehicles. There must have been about nine. They had been sent from Bindura, Rushinga, Shamva and Dotito. They were the reinforcements that had been called from all over. The police told us to stop and we did. There were Zanu (PF) youths by the roadside throwing stones at us. There must have been about 600. Later the police told us that they had been taken from other constituencies. There were running battles between Zanu (PF) and MDC. The police fired tear gas and live bullets in the air. Zanu (PF) was also firing guns. Eventually the Zanu (PF) youths ran away. Little did we know that there had been two CIOs sent from the President’s Office to assassinate me. I was in my car at first, but then got out and was on foot with the police. Then as we moved a distance away from the ambush a Nissan pick up came out of the bushes and hit my car. They had been waiting for the confusion so that they could do this. They had planned to hit my vehicle and both of them would turn and then they would fire. In fact that is what happened. They hit my car but it didn’t overturn. It was being driven by my driver, Timothy Mukwengwe. There was a period when the two cars were spinning and hitting each other like in a movie. They damaged the front bumper and headlights. But when they realised I wasn’t in it they sped off. The CIOs must have called for more reinforcements.

As we went towards Mount Darwin, there were four pick-ups and a maroon Mercedes which belongs to Kasukuwere waiting for us. There was another truck with Zanu (PF) supporters in it, about 80 of them armed with iron rods and other weapons. They were coming from Mount Darwin. They sped past us and made a U turn near the Mount Darwin-Rushinga turn off. I was now driving my car again. Then the same car that smashed my car the first time now drove into the Toyota Hilux, which is also mine, and (name withheld) was driving. Then they blocked the road and four of them pulled their pistols, including Kasukuwere. Then they began smashing the windscreens of vehicles. (name withheld)’s car was very close when Kasukuwere hit him. He was injured in his eye during the smashing of the glass with iron bars. Another man was beating people in a truck. Kasukuwere personally tried to open the doors to beat the driver and his assistant, but the door was locked from inside and he couldn’t get in. By then of all the vehicles only mine was not smashed. The people on the back had run away. I saw him [Kasukuwere]. He was looking at me. I had my gun ready inside the car, but I don’t think they could see it. That was when the army arrived.

An army helicopter was hovering and then it landed. Three army officers jumped out. They ordered everyone to lie down and everyone complied except Kasukuwere. He was asked to identify himself and he said he was a candidate for Zanu (PF). They told him that they don’t belong to Zanu (PF) and he must lie down and he did obey. They beat him and disarmed him. They said to Kasukuwere, "We were watching you and you are the main culprit". The army beat three Zanu (PF) members, but no one from MDC. Another truck then arrived full of Zanu (PF) and they were stopped and asked to disembark and lie down on the ground. We were then allowed to proceed and the army instructed the police to escort us to Bindura. Kasukuwere was ordered to be locked up in the cells, but he was set free at the police station. Many of our guys had run away when the army arrived fearing them. I was still there until dark calling people with a loudhailer to come out from the bush. Some heeded the call, but some thought it was Zanu (PF). Some were missing for two days, as they didn’t trust anything or anyone. They travelled about 60 kms to Bindura. It all happened near to Chihuri’s house [the Commissioner of Police]. Some of our members ran to his house, but there are war veterans gathered there and they were beaten by them. (Name withheld) was also one of those who ran. His eye had been damaged by Kasukuwere, but not destroyed. He ran with six others moving on foot. They entered a farm which had been invaded and they didn’t know there were war veterans on it. There were about 60 of them. (Name withheld) and the others were captured and beaten severely. That was when the beaten eye ruptured.

After failing to kill me in this incident, they decided to unleash the terror on my family. They attacked our house (1 May) in Mukumbura and beat my father. He now has two broken fingers. They kidnapped my brother and murdered him. The police arrested six and I realised that they were trying to cover up and I went to the provincial commissioner in Bindura. The attack happened 500 metres from a police post. I knew about the Zanu (PF) supporters who had been staying in Kamzenzere School. There were people there from all over Muzarabani, Centenary, Shamva and Mount Darwin. I knew that some policemen were involved with them, sharing the meat they brought there. The provincial commissioner told me, "We are doing our best", but I said six out of 400 is not enough.

When I got to Mukumbura for the funeral I wanted to hunt for those I knew who had done it. The police knew about this. I wanted to hand them over to the police. I caught two and they were also arrested. Among those on remand now are Pindirire, a local war veteran and Karicoga. Terry Marodza remains free although he is the campaign manager for the violence, the person in charge of all the atrocities with Kasukuwere. I have heard they have parted ways now but I don’t know it if is true. Border Gezi and others had plotted to kill me. There was a meeting at Tendai Hall in Bindura which lasted two hours in early April. There they were drawing up a hit squad and making a list of priorities. They didn’t agree at that meeting so they had another one at the Kimba Relief Hotel. This was a four-hour meeting. Comrade Sarodzi was present at both. Apparently they finally agreed and high on the list was my head and whoever killed me was to get $300 000. Sarodzi was on that committee, but he refused. Also on that committee were other war veterans, John, a councillor in Bindura (possibly John Chiteve who is a councillor in Bindura and has been implicated in other acts of violence), Mugarapanyama, a guard at Bindura primary school, John Karicoga who is the one who killed my brother and who has now been arrested and Comrade Satan. Sarodzi was very powerful during the war.

After this meeting he sent word that he wanted to see me and he told me what had happened and who were the members of the committee. He said, "We went to war because we had a reason to fight as we would lead a better life. But now I am in poverty, my children are not working. I didn’t fight only so Mugabe would have power. I fought to have a better life. Now I want to join MDC as change is what we need." About two weeks after my brother’s death, Gezi had a rally in Dande. That was when my shop in Gomo business centre was destroyed and looted. I have now had to close it. It was the same time as Sarodzi was attacked [10 May].

Then three weeks ago, when I was coming from Bindura there was another incident. There was a policeman, Michael Langweni, whom I had given a T-shirt to and they arrested him for wearing it. Since then he resigned saying he couldn’t work for the present government and would rather not be employed. So I employed him and now he is my personal security. We were all coming from Bindura. There are no dangers there and we can wear T-shirts. In fact the other day the MDC youths even put posters up at the Zanu (PF) provincial office and those inside did not say anything. That day, we decided to pass through Glendale in Mazowe East. What we didn’t know was that at Glendale town centre there are youths permanently stationed at the rank. They are sleeping in the council beer halls and the Cocktail bar. The youth chairman from Bindura, Tongai, was wearing an MDC T-shirt. Michael and Tongai went to get drinks. Tongai was attacked by these Zanu (PF) youths who were armed with knives and iron bars. Michael was trying to assist him. I had another bodyguard who fired six rounds in the air with my gun. By then Langwani was stabbed in the thigh and Tongai was stabbed in the thigh and stomach and he was unconscious. His clothes were full of blood and I rushed him to hospital for stitches. My bodyguard was arrested by the police for firing the gun and taken to Concession police station. After the hospital I went there and had bitter words with the member in charge who is pro-Zanu (PF). We know each other. I demanded the release of the bodyguard. Eventually he released him, but he refused to hand over my gun. I had to go back the next day to get it.

Last month I began to mobilise people. I am a former war veteran for ZANLA. I am well known. I was the security and intelligence officer for ZANLA for Nehanda sector during the Chimurenga. I was also working under the Presidential Guard since independence and I retired in 1997. The first incident happened on 13 or 14 April. I was on a bus getting home with John Zvenyika, my relative from Buhera. We got off in Mt Darwin around 6-7:00 pm. The youngsters they have hired were at the Zanu (PF) office. We were having drinks when I was seen by Marodza. We got back in the bus, but the bus was stopped by Zanu (PF) youths and we were pulled out. We were pushed into the Zanu (PF) office. I was holding a gas canister which they thought may be a bomb so they pushed us out again. Fortunately at that moment some soldiers were driving by. They saw us and took us into their armoured vehicle, then the bus was told to follow them. At a certain point they stopped and we got back on the bus and went home. The case was reported at Dotito, but Marodza was never picked up. They have been trying to kidnap me because they know I have all the information about Zanu (PF) since I used to once be an aspiring candidate for that party in my area. But I gave the seat to someone called Patel. They know I am popular. I was organising well and I went as far as Kaytan. In one month MDC support boomed. There were no Zanu (PF) in my area. When they realised that is when I began to have big problems. I could not travel on any bus. There were people waiting for me everywhere. On 10 May I was beaten. There was a rally by Border Gezi at the Dande shops. I was outside. I wanted to come to town to Harare to draw money. I was talking to some MDC supporters as I waited for the bus. There were about seven of us. Then when someone from the rally saw me, they left the rally with the intention of kidnapping and killing me. There were two trucks of Zanu (PF) supporters - more than 40 of them. I was beaten badly. They had axes, spears and sticks. They attacked us and I was injured on the eye, leg, head and chest. I fought until they left me for dead. If there is a tense situation here, we cross into Mozambique since we are near the border. It’s about 4 kms to the border from my house. I was trying to escape, but was wounded. There is a land mine company called Minetec, which found me and the doctor treated me. They are doing mine clearance near the border and because no one can come through those areas where they took me for treatment; that is how I survived. Then I decided to look for my relative Kagogoda who is Mozambican. I fought myself for Frelimo in 1971 so I know the area. My relative John had already heard of the fighting at Dande and he gapped into Mozambique to find Kagogoda. He reached Kagogoda’s home and I came later. Then John went out to look for cigarettes and he was captured by the Frelimo police. Kagogoda was also caught and he was told to go and find me. Joyce Mujuru had given them the order to kill me. They were told they would be paid $25,000. John was held for four days, but Kagogoda came and told me to run. I went from there to Dzete, then Nyamapanda and then to Harare. The people who are organising this violence in my area are Gezi, Mujuru and Marodza. The youths are said to be paid $500 a day. They were staying at the Kamsenzere school camp under Marodza, but one of the leaders there, Karicoga, was arrested after the Pfebve’s brother was killed. I was there at that time of the battle in Mukumbura when they came to kill him. I am sure I saw Marodza in a car even today in Harare. I suspect he has been sent to look for me and I am even having to hide here. I cannot stay in one place for long. [Note: John Zvenyika was present during the interview and confirmed this statement also adding that, " When I was imprisoned by those Frelimo, they showed me that letter from Mujuru saying that Zulu must be caught with $25 000 for his head. They were thinking of telling Mujuru that I was the one. Then they decided they would release me for $4000, which Kagogoda managed to raise from Zulu. After I gave them the money I was released."]

We had gone for a rally in Mount Darwin on 13 April. When we reached Mount Darwin, the police took us to the police camp and said ‘You can’t do your rally here because the Zanu (PF) candidate for Mt Darwin, Saviour Kasukuwere, doesn’t want to see you here’. He’s an ex-CIO. We said we have booked for the rally and if they want to kill us they can do so here. Our national coordinator said we should go to Rushinga as the situation was not so tense there and we could eat freely, then come back for the rally later. After coming from Rushinga, we passed Kasukuwere’s house along the road. He had hired about 1000 youths. They were by the roadside. He was not there and had gone to fetch more people in a lorry. There were also two vehicles belonging to CIOs. The youths on the road started throwing stones and the police fired teargas at us instead of those who were attacking. There were two men in police uniforms, but they were not really police. I know those guys from Bindura. I worked at Kelly’s restaurant which was beside the CIO office and I used to see them all the time. They were CIOs. There were also two CIOs in soldiers uniform. They were armed with sub-machine guns and pistols. I was driving a Toyota Hilux and I had hired a kombi. We had a lorry, and a Nissan diesel which belongs to Elliot Pfebve, the aspiring candidate for Bindura. All the boys from the cars got down to take stones and throw them back so that we could pass through. We succeeded in fighting back and managed to move forward. Among the attackers were ex-combatants and some of them were armed with guns. Then we drove forward towards Mt Darwin. When we reached the junction of the road, Kasukuwere was there in his Benz with more than 500 youths in a lorry. He pointed a gun and fired shots from a pistol. He fired about seven, but they didn’t hit anyone. The first one nearly hit me as I was at the front, but I ducked down. I was at the front of the delegation driving. He must have aimed at me because then I would crash and he could have attacked the others on the back. They youths were throwing stones at us. We managed again to keep on driving through them. There were policemen standing on the corners. They shouted we should turn towards Bindura. We did so, but we went about 500 metres, before he overtook in his Mercedes and with the Mazda’s belonging to the CIO. They blocked the road and we were forced to stop. Kasukuwere and the others were pointing their guns at us. Then the police drove up just next to my car. It was the Officer-in-Charge for Mt Darwin. He must have heard something was going on and he came with six other police cars. But Kasukuwere went to the policeman and said: "We told you we don’t want to see these MDC people here. This is a no-go area for MDC." He hit him across the face with his hand, and the police cars pulled over to the side to watch from a distance, like it was a football match. Then Kasukuwere took an iron bar and started hitting my windscreen. He broke through the window and then the bar hit me on the face and when I got out of the car he hit me in the eye. I have now lost that eye. He then went to the next car and with the others they were hitting them. The windscreens and all the lights were all broken. Then there was a helicopter above and when I heard it I began to run and I managed to run into the bushes. But although I escaped, he made others lie down in a circle, like they did during the war and they were beating them with sticks. The other Zanu PF supporters had by now arrived in their trucks and were helping them and some were pointing their guns. We couldn’t fight back because of these guns. It was past 4 pm when we ran away. [The incident happened around 3 pm]. I went running through the bush, with about six others. I was in terror. My eye was bleeding. I just kept running. All night we kept going towards Madziwa. In the morning we reached there and went straight to the police station. The police wrote letters and we were given a car to go to the clinic and given some Panadols and sent to Bindura. I haven’t yet had a chance to make a full report to the police, but will do when I get to Bindura. At the hospital in Bindura, he sent four CIOs to see if I was there. I saw them and told a nurse and they transferred me to Parirenyatwa. I got out of hospital two days ago and will try to go back to Bindura tomorrow. There is another guy who was with me whose name I remember. He was also from Bindura. He had an injury to his left shoulder, but mostly bruises. His name is Phillip Mabika. These Zanu PF people are burning everything. They have destroyed everything in Mucumbura. They have destroyed everything in Dotito, where Border Gezi has his shop. They are burning MDC houses. People are just running away. They killed someone in Mt Darwin four days ago. He was an attendant at the service station. It was Kasukuwere who did it. Border Gezi is paying people and he is taking ex-combatants to Nicholas Goche [Vice-minister]. He’s one of the people who is doing these killings. Chen Chimutengwende has a farm near Glendale on the Bindura road and he’s organising the burning of houses there.

On the 24th May 2000, I was at Glendale coming from Bindura, and heading for Harare. There were four of us travelling in a Mazda B1600. A white Hilux Twin cab 4x4 was following us, although we did not know it at the time. I alighted in Glendale in order to buy a cigarette. A councillor for Chipadze, John Chiteve (Bindura District Councillor) confronted me. He alleged that I was responsible for the destruction of his house in Bindura by MDC supporters. I denied the allegation, and he stabbed me in the stomach with a knife. I fell down, and again he stabbed me in the thigh three times. A lot of others joined in assaulting me. I lost consciousness, and was ferried to Concession Hospital by an ambulance, and then was referred to Bindura Hospital. I needed to have 16 stitches in my leg. I requested to be released from Bindura Hospital because they had tried to kidnap and kill me before on the 27th of May. I was then taken to Ponal Surgery, where I was referred to Parirenyatwa for an operation. I was operated on the 31st of May, and was discharged on the 2nd of June. The case was reported at Concession Police Station, and my statement was then taken at Glendale Police Station on the 16th of June but no arrests have been made so far. On the 9th of June 2000, the stitches were removed but the wound opened and I can hardly walk. I am currently staying in Bindura, where there is no peace.

At a rally on the 16th of June at Mufuka village, the district Zanu (PF) chairman (Thomas Mudziwa) and youth leader (Simba Chikasha) said, "After maelection tichapisa dzimba dzevanhu ve MDC" ("after the elections we will burn down the houses of MDC people"). On the 26th of June, Zanu (PF) youths were given cash and new t-shirts by the district chairman. At 1am on the 27th of June, Zanu (PF) youths burned down his kitchen. Two shelves, his kitchen unit, one and a half tones of maize and all his cooking utensils, valued at $35000, were destroyed. His assailants were known to him: Henicha Tapfumaneyi, Mclean Tapfumaneyi, Takundwa Chironga, Tonderai Mashiri and Michael Kanengoni. The case was reported to the police.