Declare yourselves illiterate, Zanu PF tells voters

Source: Declare yourselves illiterate, Zanu PF tells voters – DailyNews Live January 18, 2017

Farayi Machamire

HARARE – Zanu PF officials are reportedly asking voters to declare they
are “illiterate” when they cast their ballots during the Bikita West
by-election so that they can be assisted to vote by Zanu PF youths.

Bikita South legislator Jeppy Jaboon and Zanu PF politburo member Josiah
Hungwe are said to have made the startling remarks at a Zanu PF rally on
Saturday at Bikita Minerals Recreation Hall.

“Zanu PF ward chairperson Simon Muchafa called people for a rally . . .
attended by . . . Jaboon, Zanu PF candidate Beauty Chabaya and Zanu PF
politburo member . . . Hungwe,” Heal Zimbabwe Trust (HZT) said in report.

“Jaboon and Hungwe emphasised that the people should declare themselves
illiterate on the day of the by-election so that they can be assisted by
Zanu PF youths whom they said will be deployed at every polling station on
the day of the by-election.”

However, Jaboon denied the allegation saying it could have been someone
else not him.

“I never said that, this is a democratic country and I can’t say that,” he
said.

Efforts to get comment from Hungwe were fruitless as his mobile phone was
reachable.

HZT said intimidation was increasing in the constituency ahead of the
by-election slated for Saturday.

HZT is a non-profit peace building organisation established in 2009 with a
mission to prevent and transform conflicts in Zimbabwe with a particular
focus on social justice and human rights protection.

“Between January 12-15th alone, HZT recorded 33 cases of human rights
violations mostly perpetrated by Zanu PF against opposition members and
the electorate in general,” the HZT report said.

The rights organisation also noted with concern a continuous involvement
of traditional leaders in mobilising citizens to political gatherings and
perpetuating political intimidation.

This is despite provisions of Section 281-282 of the Constitution which
specifically forbids traditional leaders to (a) be members of any
political party or in any way participate in partisan politics.

HZT also noted partisan distribution of food aid at Zanu PF rallies.

“Fertilisers were also given to people who had produced registration slips
at the meeting. Jaboon also announced that Zanu PF had compiled serial
numbers on the registration slips and said that this would help them
identify people who would vote for Zanu PF,” the HRT report further reads.

The organisation said it is, however, plausible that there are no visible
cases of torture, murder, abductions and other gross human rights
violations.

“Citizens should become more conscious of their surroundings in order to
protect themselves from violence and intimidation,” HZT said, adding “we
anticipate a further increase on intimidation cases and a surge in forced
participation in political gatherings given the number of scheduled mega
rallies in the next few days.

“Political canvassing will intensify in these campaign finishing days.

“We also implore political parties and independent candidates to campaign
peacefully and desist from using violent strategies that are likely to
compromise the participation of Bikita West voters.”

Bikita West is set to host final mega rallies with Zanu PF holding its
last one today and ZPF tomorrow.