Freddie Matonhodze, an official of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Muzarabani district, in Mashonaland Central Province, a rural stronghold of the ruling ZANU-PF party, lost his wife and relatives to political violence. His home has been razed and his livestock slaughtered, but he refuses to flee.
"I have been an active member of the MDC since 2002. I am a former ZANU-PF supporter, but from 2000 [when the fast-track land reform programme was launched] I did not like the way the party used violence in its [political] campaigns, and it encouraged us to use violence against the then opposition supporters.
"In the March 2008 elections, because of violence and intimidation, the MDC candidate for the parliamentary seat in the harmonised [parliamentary and presidential] elections pulled out of the race at the last minute.
"I remained as the campaign manager for MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai, and the senate and council candidates. When President Robert Mugabe was defeated by Tsvangirai in the first round of voting, I was targeted by the militia and war veterans under the command of the military.
"When ZANU-PF militia laid siege to my homestead, I escaped with my wife, Nyadzisayi. She sustained a broken collar bone and spinal injuries; she died at the end of 2009 as a result of her injuries.
"The mob which attacked my homestead is known, and they are war veterans and traditional leaders - among them, Chief Chagarakasekete.
"I fled to live in relative safety near Harare [the capital] until the signing of the Global Political Agreement [(GPA) signed in September 2008, paving the way for the formation of a unity government in February 2009] and returned home to resume my life. I look after an extended family of 15 and have worked hard to ensure they are catered for.
"When I returned home, I found that my neighbours were hostile to me, and bragged that the GPA only applied in Harare and not in rural areas.
"What crushed me was that they had set my tractor on fire, set my homestead on fire and, even more cruelly, they set my pigs, which were in an enclosure, on fire.
"The ZANU-PF militia slaughtered some of my livestock and consumed it. I lost chickens, guinea fowls, goats and cattle.
"The violence has resumed and we have had to appeal to the JOMIC [the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee, which monitors compliance with the GPA] to come and help bring peace after ZANU-PF supporters set a building on fire used by MDC supporters.
"JOMIC says it will visit the area one of these days, but we fear that there could be a bloodbath if nothing is done soon."
dd/go/he
"I have been an active member of the MDC since 2002. I am a former ZANU-PF supporter, but from 2000 [when the fast-track land reform programme was launched] I did not like the way the party used violence in its [political] campaigns, and it encouraged us to use violence against the then opposition supporters.
"In the March 2008 elections, because of violence and intimidation, the MDC candidate for the parliamentary seat in the harmonised [parliamentary and presidential] elections pulled out of the race at the last minute.
"I remained as the campaign manager for MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai, and the senate and council candidates. When President Robert Mugabe was defeated by Tsvangirai in the first round of voting, I was targeted by the militia and war veterans under the command of the military.
"When ZANU-PF militia laid siege to my homestead, I escaped with my wife, Nyadzisayi. She sustained a broken collar bone and spinal injuries; she died at the end of 2009 as a result of her injuries.
"The mob which attacked my homestead is known, and they are war veterans and traditional leaders - among them, Chief Chagarakasekete.
"I fled to live in relative safety near Harare [the capital] until the signing of the Global Political Agreement [(GPA) signed in September 2008, paving the way for the formation of a unity government in February 2009] and returned home to resume my life. I look after an extended family of 15 and have worked hard to ensure they are catered for.
"When I returned home, I found that my neighbours were hostile to me, and bragged that the GPA only applied in Harare and not in rural areas.
"What crushed me was that they had set my tractor on fire, set my homestead on fire and, even more cruelly, they set my pigs, which were in an enclosure, on fire.
"The ZANU-PF militia slaughtered some of my livestock and consumed it. I lost chickens, guinea fowls, goats and cattle.
"The violence has resumed and we have had to appeal to the JOMIC [the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee, which monitors compliance with the GPA] to come and help bring peace after ZANU-PF supporters set a building on fire used by MDC supporters.
"JOMIC says it will visit the area one of these days, but we fear that there could be a bloodbath if nothing is done soon."
dd/go/he
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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