ZIMBABWE:Fear has gripped opposition supporters in rural Zimbabwe after a police crackdown on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the past few weeks.
Dubani Mlotshwa, a small-scale farmer and grassroots opposition party official in the rural Nkayi district, in the western province of Matabeleland North, said unknown assailants, whom he suspected were ruling Zanu-PF party agents, had visited his homestead and threatened his family for supporting the opposition.
"We are now living in constant fear. The tension is high here; we are seeing people we don't know these days, who move around saying they are looking for all MDC supporters. We are now even scared of attending community gatherings. I, for one, have been warned, and the people who came to my homestead were strangers to me," said Mlotshwa. Most rural areas have traditionally been part of Zanu-PF's support base.
Abednico Bhebhe, the MDC legislator for Nkayi, confirmed the anxiety felt by the opposition in rural Matabeleland as well as other provinces. He said MDC supporters were being punished because the authorities feared that the recent defiance campaign by the opposition in urban centres might spread to the countryside.
"The regime is on the path of war with the people of Zimbabwe. They were shaken by the spirit of defiance that was shown by the MDC in major cities, and now they want to move swiftly to cow rural people into silence, but the time has absolutely run out for them," he said.
Nathan Shamuyarira, the Zanu-PF spokesman, denied the claims. "It's only the police who are instilling law and order across the country. They have to do this in view of the violence unleashed by the MDC thugs recently on civilians and the police. Police have a right to move around, even in rural areas; there is nothing new here."
In a statement, the MDC said it was "getting disturbing reports of police officers and youth militias working hand in glove to punish our supporters in rural areas. The systematic violence, which started with the assaults and torture of our leadership in Harare and Bulawayo [Zimbabwe's second city], including other cities, is deplorable and uncalled for".
The ruling Zanu-PF should rein in its supporters or "we are headed for widespread violence across the country", the MDC statement warned.
Earlier this week, Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Tsvangirai faction of the MDC, was beaten while he was preparing to travel to Brussels for a meeting of parliamentarians from African, Caribbean and Pacific states as well as the European Union.
The leader of the other MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara, was also arrested as he attempted to leave the country. Police said he could not leave because he was facing charges in court.
This report is edited information supplied by Irin, the Nairobi-based Integrated Regional Information Networks, an agency of United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs whose principal role is to provide news and analysis about sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia for the humanitarian community