THE BULAWAYO AGENDA BLOG

Bulawayo Agenda is compiling Election Updates from reports and alerts from its network of contacts located in areas served by its chapters monitoring the 27 June run-off and by-elections.

Election Update No. 3

MPOPOMA/PELANDABA
There are fears that the turn out for this highly contested by-election has been lower than in March 29. Meanwhile, reports say that the MDC-Mutambara candidate in the Mpopoma/Pelandaba by-election, Dhumani Gwetu, went around distributing fliers that claimed that the MDC Tsvangirai candidate Samuel Khumalo had withdrawn from the contest. This has been interpreted as part of a smear campaign to garner votes for the Zanu PF candidate.

BUBI - Matabeleland North
Villagers were today forced to go to vote by Zanu PF militia wearing party regalia. They (the villagers) said that despite this they had spoiled their papers.

QUEENS PARK, BULAWAYO
Soldiers in uniform and travelling in an army truck have been giving out compact disks with Mugabe’s speeches in the suburb of Queens Park. Residents interviewed said that they were now living in fear since are in fear.

NKAYI
A ZBC crew arrived at Nkayi Growth Point this afternoon and told people that they should vote and those not doing so would be beaten up. The same crew sent a dispatch to their Pockets Hill studios that appeared in afternoon news bulletins, claiming that there were long and snaking queues in Nkayi, contrary to the reality on the ground.

Zanu PF youths were spotted parading at Tohwe Centre, 20 km from Nkayi. It is not known why they are there and there are fears that they might be preparing to exercise retribution on those who did not go to vote. Meanwhile, reports say that a war veteran known only as Ndlovu was yesterday pushed into a fire by MDC activists, 6 km from Nkayi growth point, along the Bulawayo Road. He is said to have lost one of his eyes.

PLUMTREE
People were ordered to register at the Zanu PF base that was established in the border town after voting. In Bulilima and Mangwe districts, people understood the withdrawal of the MDC presidential candidate but were afraid that Zanu Pf activists would later check for the mark and for this reason they went to vote.

SHURUGWI
Very few people turned out to vote in this chrome mining town in the Midlands. Those who voted highlighted that they had been threatened that their fingers would be cut off under an operation called “Chigunwe Chavota Ndechipi?” (Which finger voted?), referring to the red indelible ink that voters have to dip their fingers into.

Bulawayo Agenda is compiling Election Updates from reports and alerts from its network of contacts located in areas served by its chapters monitoring the 27 June run-off and by-elections.

Election Update No. 2

BULAWAYO
Zanu Pf youths are reported to be forcing people Egodini bus terminus in central Bulawayo and surrounding areas to go and vote. The area around Tredgold Magistrates courts, haven for black market foreign currency traders was cleared after the youths demanded to have a look at their fingers to see whether they had voted.

More than 30 commuter omnibuses still have posters of Robert Mugabe adorned on them contravening the Electoral Act well into the election. They have to keep the posters on in order to receive cheap fuel.

MPOPOMA
Less than 2000 people had voted in 15 out of 18 polling stations in the Mpopoma /Pelandaba by-election by 1p.m. today.

By 11.30am, at Minyela Hall, 200 people had voted though most refused to collect the Presidential ballot while others said they had spoiled the paper.

Two activists, bringing food for election agents, have been arrested in Mpopoma where a by-election is taking place. The charge is not known. They are detained at Western Commonage police station

NJUBE
The residents of Njube in Bulawayo have taken heed to the announcement by the MDC not to go and vote.  Most people seem relaxed at their homes while a good number are at Njube Beer Hall.

GWERU
The Midlands city of Gweru was deathly quiet this morning and residents preferred to stay at home. At polling stations visited, there were no more than 8 people queued to vote. However, as the day wore on, people began to venture out assured that no harm would visit them. Gweru has experienced unprecedented intimidation and beatings by police and people in military uniform in the period preceding the run-off.

VICTORIA FALLS
At Chinotimba Primary School, 75 people had voted and 10 turned away by 11am this morning. At Chamabondo School, 250 people had voted by lunchtime and there were no observers at the polling station. Only Zanu Pf election agents were in attendance.

NKAYI
Yesterday in Qhubuthando, the home of an MDC activist whose name has not been disclosed was burnt down by suspected Zanu PF supporters in retaliation for an attack on a Zanu PF member last week who was allegedly axed by suspected MDC activists. The axed victim was then carried in a vehicle accompanied by a doctor that later overturned its way to Bulawayo injuring the doctor. They were both admitted into a hospital in Bulawayo.

ZANU PF polling agents were yesterday telling the villagers in Nkayi that Morgan Tsvangirai had announced that his supporters should go and vote.

Contact:
Bulawayo Agenda Information Department
E-mails: byagenda@mweb.co.zw
Blog: www.bulawayo_agenda.blog.com
Web: www.agenda.org.zw
Phone/Fax: +263-(0)9-88821      Mobile: 0912516724   

THE DAILY AGENDA 24 -25 June 2008

Bulawayo Agenda compiles the Daily Agenda from reports and alerts from its network of contacts located in areas served by its chapters. It offers an alternative source of information from the mainstream media that is often restricted in terms of reach and its focus on the grassroots.

25 June 2008

Bulawayo
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has been forced to recruit more teachers as polling officers after they failed to get the number required to man polling stations. ZEC had avoided employing teachers for the voting exercise preferring other civil servants instead. This was after Zanu PF accused teachers for ensuring an MDC victory in 29 March harmonized election. Teachers, along with election agents and observers have borne the brunt of politically motivated attacks in many parts of the country forcing most of them to flee to the safety of towns and cities.

Mpopoma
Zanu PF bases have been set up in Mpopoma and Entumbane suburbs ahead of Friday’s By-election in the constituency. It is alleged that at one of the bases at Msiteli Secondary School, girls as young as 15 years old are staying there with Zanu PF youth. A senior leader of the War Veterans association has been linked to the bases which Zanu PF claims to be part of their campaign strategy. In a related event, people believed to be linked to the bases have been seen recording the addresses of houses with satellite dishes. One of the individuals was on Sunday, accosted by residents revealing that he had been instructed to do so by his seniors in preparation for ‘Operation Dzikisayi Ma-Dish,’ an exercise that will force residents to remove them (satellite dishes). It is not known when this operation would take place. Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, former minister of Information and Publicity faces 4 other candidates in the hotly contested poll.

Plumtree
Shops were forced to close on Wednesday forcing people to attend a Zanu PF meeting held in the border town. The meeting, addressed by war veterans, was to remind the people to go to the polls on 27 June and to vote overwhelmingly for Robert Mugabe.

Gweru
Zanu PF youth militia in full party regalia on Wednesday, set fire to DeBruynnes Service Station in Gweru. The youths try to prevent fire brigade from putting out the fire until they are dispersed by riot police. The filling station supplies Direct Fuel Imports to the Midlands city. Meanwhile, scores of followers of Reverend Obediah Msindo’s church wearing Zanu PF regalia gathered in the city centre on Wednesday disrupting morning traffic. Army and Air force details were then positioned along Gweru’s main street as the crowd later marched to Gweru Theatre for a meeting to ‘Pray for President Mugabe’ in the 27 June run-off. A Bishop Mahwende is alleged to have organized the event and some 20 local pastors have been forced to attend the meeting since, it is alleged, “they had previously prayed for the country and that they had to pry for Mugabe this time around.”

24 June 2008

Bulawayo

Sauerstown residents have been asked to name MDC supporters in exchange for a 10kg bag of mealie-meal. This follows a weekend of political violence in the suburbs of Richmond, North End and Sauerstown where vendors and other residents were assaulted by a mob driven around by Zanu PF’s Joshua Malinga’s son and who were deceptively wearing MDC T-shirts. Malinga is a former senator.

Harare
MDC’s Elias Mudzuri’s rural home was attacked and destroyed by a group of armed men in military uniform. Mudzuri’s 80-year-old father was badly injured while two other people were shot in the legs. The men went on to looted Mudzuri’s brother’s property.

Hwange
The MDC chairlady for Hwange central, Mrs. K Mbewe was abducted by Zanu PF thugs from her house on Sunday and released later that same day. The thugs gave her an option of either surrendering her colliery house or to wear Zanu PF regalia whenever she was at her flea market stall in the town. MDC activists that include Rhoda Sibanda and Befnart Dube have also received similar threats.

Meanwhile, Jerum Mpofu was assaulted by Zanu PF militia after being seen disembarking from MDC MP-elect, Tose Sansole’s car on Sunday. Mpofu fled to a relative’s home 40km away from Hwange after the assault.

An MDC activist, Dimion Tshuma, from Chibala,dogseg to Zanu PF militia and and  was sentenced to 8 months in jail after being accused of allegedly referring to Zanu PF militia, ZRP Support Unit and even neighbors who support Zanu PF as “Mugabe’s dogs.” He claims he was ‘framed’ after a mob of 50 Zanu Pf supporters cornered him.

Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority employees in the coal mining town have been threatened with dismissal if they do not vote for Robert Mugabe in the 27 June election. It is alleged that a message has been circulated that says that since it was due to Mugabe’s generosity that they were employed at the power utility, they should show their appreciation by retaining him as their president.

Lupane
Violence is intensifying in Gomoza. At the moment some MDC supporters were injured by Zanu PF militia and kept at the police station as the police claim not to have transport to ferry them to St Luke’s Hospital. Villagers are also being given 5kg of maize per homestead as inducements to go and vote. This has irritated them since the amount is not enough for their families and they have vowed not to go to the polls.

Reliable sources in Lupane have revealed that Zanu PF intends to use its officials and war veterans as presiding and polling officers in the 27 June run-off. A number of them have already gone for training by the Zimbabwe Electoral Authority.
 
Contact:
Bulawayo Agenda Information Department
E-mails: byagenda@mweb.co.zw
Blog: www.bulawayo_agenda.blog.com
Web: www.agenda.org.zw
Phone/Fax: +263-(0)9-88821      Mobile: 0912516724   

BREAKING NEWS - Bindura - Officials of the American Embassy were arrested at gunpoint today in Bindura whilst on their way to visit victims of political violence in the area.

Matobo
The MDC councillor for Ward 15, Priscilla Sibanda is in hospital after being assaulted by so-called war veterans for attending a Matobo Agenda meeting yesterday. She received severe head injuries. These are the same war veterans who caused the abandonment of the consultative meeting that was cleared by the police.

Murambinda
Seventh Day Adventists in the area are being assaulted by Zanu Pf war veterans after being accused of being MDC sympathizers. They are also being denied food assistance.

Gweru
Zanu PF political Commissar Elliot Manyika invades the Midlands city on Wednesday with over 90 youths forcing people to wear Zanu PF campaign t-shirts. Soldiers have been matching through the city singing war songs while jets from the Airforce of Zimbabwe have been buzzing the Gweru in a show of force. Meanwhile, senior police officers from Police General Headquarters behave like Zanu PF political commissars gathering officers at Gweru Central and making them chant Zanu PF slogans and sing political songs.

Thugs Disrupt Matobo Agenda Meeting
Matobo police details watched helplessly as Zanu PF hooligans disrupted a consultative meeting called by Matobo Agenda in Silozwi to discuss the Presidential Run-off. Hundreds of villagers had turned up for the meeting when they were scared away by the hooligans who were milling around the shopping centre clad in t-shirts emblazoned with the image of the Zanu PF presidential candidate. People were visibly scared even to discuss among themselves fearing that they would be targeted. The meeting had been cleared by the police. The disruption follows the assault on Tuesday 2 June of Precious Ndlovu, the Matobo Agenda chairman for putting up posters for the meeting. Ndlovu is reported to be among those people targeted by war veterans. He had to flee to Bulawayo after concerns were expressed about his safety. Bulawayo Agenda had earlier vowed to go ahead with the meeting but later backed down after assessing the situation which had grown tense. Silozwi is one of the areas were war veterans have set up base camps to spearhead a fear campaign ahead of the Presidential run-off on 27 June. They have already confiscated Freeplay radios from the villagers claiming they were listening to regime change propaganda from pirate radio stations. The police have failed to act in both cases.
 

Bulawayo gears up for run-off
Civic society should mobilize people to go and vote in the coming Presidential run-off and also to pressurise the government to provide a conducive atmosphere for the June 27 poll. This was one of the resolutions agreed to by 23 Bulawayo based civic organisations that met over last Saturday. Over 180 activists agreed on a set of resolution that will guide the organisations in how they are going to approach the run-off. Among the most critical resolutions was the need for a co-ordinated approach that will allow for the organisations to combine their resources and services for an effective campaign.

Various speakers tackled issues related to the post 29 March period as well as laying the foundation for the run-off campaign. It was agreed at the meeting that the dismantling of terror camps throughout the countryside would be the first logical step. The church, civic society representatives and MPs were encouraged to visit the affected areas in order to instill confidence in the people as well as talking to the perpetrators of the violence. They also pledged to facilitate the voting of persons displaced by the political violence currently affecting the rural areas.
 
Civic society came out strongly on the aspect of protecting the vote while at the same time reactivating the sleeping vote. This would entail encouraging those who missed the opportunity of exercising their right to vote, to do so this time around. The focus would be on urban areas where far less people than those registered voted on March 29.

It was revealed that there was concerted effort by the authorities to close up democratic space in the period leading to the run-off. Civic society would in this case provide alternative means of information dissemination in order to counter the restrictions on the media. It was further resolved that the role of civic society would not be restricted to the run-off but would extend beyond the elections. This meant that the role of organisations should be for the defense of human rights and be the vanguard of democracy in a post-election dispensation.
 

MDC Leader held in Lupane
Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC president, Thokozani Khupe (Vice-President), Lovemore Moyo (National Chairman) and senior party leaders were detained for over seven hours in Lupane in what has been interpreted as an attempt to derail their presidential run-off campaign schedule. Tsvangirai and his party were on their way to Tsholotsho for a rally after he was denied the opportunity to address the Lupane community last Tuesday. Tsvangirai, who had resorted to a walk-about in the Matabeleland North provincial capital, was stopped at a roadblock on his way to Tsholotsho and taken back to Lupane for questioning. About MDC 14 activists arrested in the at the same time as Tsvangirai town were instead taken to Sipepa police station in Tsholotsho and they had not been formally charged at the time of going to press. They included Lupane Agenda programmes officer Vumani Ndlovu. The MDC leader who has been on a campaign tour of Matabeleland North has failed to address a single rally after authorities denied him permission to hold meetings in Hwange, Victoria Falls and Lupane, and Tsholotsho. In Hwange and Victoria Falls, riot police occupied the venues where rallies were scheduled to take place and Tsvangirai resorted to walk-about meeting people in the streets like he eventually did in Lupane. Another rally that was supposed to take place in Plumtree on Thursday had been barred from taking place at the time of going to press.

Lupane Agenda Officer arrested
Vumani Ndlovu, the Lupane Agenda programmes officer was arrested and taken to Sipepa police station along with 15 MDC activists after they were arrested in the Matabeleland North capital on Wednesday.  Ndlovu was picked up in Lupane as police swept through the town looking for anyone who was associated with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s visit where he was scheduled to address a rally. Tsvangirai’s rally was barred from taking place. Ndlovu and the MDC activists were then taken to Tsholotsho after being threatened by their captors that they would be handed over to war veterans in Sipepa. However, it was later confirmed that they were being held by the police but without charge. The arrest of Ndlovu comes hardly a week after Plumtree Agenda programmes officer Helijah Moyo was arrested along with MP-elect Norman Maphosa and Lutho Tapela, the senator-elect for Bulilima-Mangwe and released without charge. These events follow reports that some senior security officers have called for the surveillance of activists. There has been a noticeable increase in the harassment of civic society activists.

Contact:

Bulawayo Agenda
E-mails: byoagenda@hotmail.com; byagenda@mweb.co.zw
Blog: www.bulawayo_agenda.blog.com
Phone/Fax: +263-9-888211