MDC Alliance polling agent, David Chamanga’s homestead in Chihwayi village in Mutoko East, was on Monday night set ablaze by unknown persons as post-election violence intensifies.
Source: Mutoko MDC Alliance polling agent’s homestead set ablaze – NewsDay Zimbabwe August 9, 2018
BY STAFF REPORTER
Chamanga (55) was the opposition party’s election agent at Chimombe shops in ward 17 during the July 30 elections.
Chamanga’s bedroom and kitchen hut were burnt down, while property worth thousands of dollars was destroyed in the suspected arson attack.
Speaking to NewDay yesterday, Chamanga said the incident happened while they were attending a Johane Masowe night vigil.
“My uncle, who had come to the same night vigil, told me that there was fire at our homestead. I rushed home only to find the houses on fire. My younger brother tried in vain to retrieve some of the property, but only managed to get some buckets out of the house,” he said.
“This happened at around midnight. I suspect that the attack was perpetrated by some Zanu PF supporters. Fortunately, I had taken my family to the night vigil. We could have burnt to death.”
Chamanga added that he reported the matter at Makosa Police Station in Mutoko.
“Police details accompanied me to the scene, saying they would deal with paperwork later,” he said.
However, police in Mashonaland East Province yesterday said they were yet to receive the report.
Efforts to get a comment from the police officer handling the case, only identified as Musarapasi, were fruitless.
MDC Mashonaland East provincial chairperson, Piniel Denga confirmed the incident and blamed Zanu PF supporters for the attack.
“I received reports from Mutoko that Chamanga’s homestead was burnt last night (Monday). He was our polling agent in last week’s elections. These are Zanu PF machinations to intimidate our supporters because they lost the election, but as a party, we are not going to bow to their pressure,” he said.
“They want to intimidate our structures and polling agents to surrender to them or they want our leadership to drop the petition on the election fraud they did. We are watching them. They stole the election now they want to kill our supporters and destroy their livelihoods.”
The country held a generally peaceful election on July 30, but later turned violent as the opposition claimed victory over Zanu PF.
Last week, seven people were shot dead as opposition party supporters protested in central Harare.
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