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Zimbabwe: Opposition MDC `undergoing...
2008-07-12 10:08:40
By Johannesburg
There is growing evidence that retaliatory violence by supporters of Zimbabwe`s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is taking an organised form, says Peter Kagwanja, a director of research at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).
This news was published yesterday by the Business Day newspaper of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kagwanja told reporters at the launch of a new report on Zimbabwe in Johannesburg yesterday, that those who lost their lives at the start of the violence against MDC activists were specifically selected for having undergone some form of military training.
These victims, about five of them, were leaders of ``democratic resistance committees.``
Kagwanja said although there was no indication that retaliation was official MDC policy, it appeared MDC supporters were starting to undergo training in order to protect themselves from attack.
``Regional actors and the international community must not only take note of this new development but also condemn incipient retaliatory violence involving the opposition, including encouraging it to stick to a nonviolent democratic struggle,`` he said.
There were strong indications that the culture of violence,long associated with Zanu (PF), had gradually permeated the MDC, he said.
``MDC is very insecure to the point that they would want to arm at least for their own security,`` he said, without citing specific instances.
However, he brushed aside queries from circumspect reporters. ``It`s not anecdotal, we’ve done interviews,`` Kagwanja said.
His colleague, Kwandiwe Kondlo, said antigovernment resistance operations always tended to be secretive.
``It`s the kind of evidence you can’t get by being there because these operations are by their very nature clandestine,`` he said.
Kagwanj a said that he had learnt through a contact that Zimbabwean youth of unknown affiliation were seen in New Guinea, for the purposes of guerilla training. ``We cannot rule out that MDC would like to defend its victory and how they want to defend it might vary with the opinion of its members,`` he said.
The new report was the result of a collaboration between the HSRC and the Nairobi-based Africa Policy Institute. It recommends that the mediation effort in Zimbabwe be strengthened by including other eminent persons.
However, it urges that the mediation be allowed to retain its African character while working to achieve an executive power-sharing arrangement with a definite time frame and monitoring tools.
The report also calls for the African Union to establish a continental election commission and an electoral court to tackle complex issues surrounding disputed elections. (Johannesburg Business Day)
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