SW Radio Africa (London)
Tererai Karimakwenda
28 May 2008
analysis
An active campaigner for the MDC, who was there when state agents kidnapped the party's district chairman for Marondera, has provided further evidence that the ongoing abductions are part of ZANU-PF's brutal strategy to ensure victory in the presidential runoff election.
Witnesses have identified some of the main perpetrators and MDC officials have reported them to the police. But our contact said the police told him their hands are tied, because they have a directive from Police General Headquarters (PGHQ) ordering them not to arrest the state agents. "Regai vapedze basa" the police claimed to have been ordered, meaning let them finish their job.
Marondera has been one of the targeted areas where MDC structures are being slowly destroyed through violent abductions, threatening home visits and the arrests of top officials. It is where the newly elected MDC MP Ian Kay has been in detention since last week Tuesday, facing trumped up charges. An MDC official in the area said Kay was given Z$20 billion bail and was due to be released. But the state invoked a technical regulation to keep the MDC MP in jail longer. He is now due to appear in court on June 11.
On Tuesday we reported that the wife of Kay's campaign manager Mabel Penisara, was abducted by ZANU-PF thugs Monday night. The Crisis Coalition says that Mabel has been found. The report said she sustained serious injuries from the torture and beatings she endured during her detention, and she was left naked and for dead by a roadside.
The MDC district chairman for Marondera, Potifa Bakaaiman, was abducted last week. Our contact said several MDC officials had just come back from court and were walking in town when a blue twin cab speeded towards them. A CIO operative named Sidney Somai jumped out of the vehicle and hit Bakaaiman on the head with the butt of rifle. Somai then dragged him into the vehicle and it speeded off. Bakaaiman's whereabouts are still not known.
Our contact also identified a ZANU-PF youth named Jeche as one of the prominent perpetrators of violence in Marondera. He said Jeche was one of the thugs who looted the home of an MDC official in Marondera and stole a television and DVDs. The police have the names but instead of arresting them, they are choosing to ignore these gross violations and appear to be powerless to act.
The twin cab being used in the Marondera campaign has the letters CAM written on it. Our contact said that the vehicles with this sign were part of the fleet that was given to the Electoral Commission to use during the harmonised elections. The vehicle fills up with fuel at the main police station everyday.
State agents are hanging around Marondera town at some of the key locations where they are bound to see MDC officials and supporters. This includes the hospitals, the police stations and shops. They are specifically targeting those who helped the MDC to defeat ZANU-PFso heavily in the council and parliamentary polls in March.
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