Survey: Majority of Zimbabweans Fear Outbreak of Election Campaign Violence

WASHINGTON — Fifty two percent of Zimbabweans say they personally fear becoming victims of political intimidation or violence during election campaigns.The latest findings by Afrobarometer indicate that far more urbanites (64%) than rural residents (46%) say they fear political intimidation or violence during election campaigns “somewhat” or “a lot,” and women (58%) are more likely than men (47%) to express such fear.

“Fear of political intimidation and violence during election time decreases with age (ranging from 57% of youth aged 18-35 to 42% of elders aged 56 and older) and increases with respondents’ education level, from 24% of those with no formal education to 57% of those with secondary or post-secondary qualifications.

“A huge partisan divide exists on this question: MDC-T supporters (69%) and uncommitted respondents (64%) are more than twice as likely as ZANU-PF adherents (28%) to fear becoming victims of political intimidation or violence during election campaigns. A majority of residents in four provinces say they are at least “somewhat” fearful of election-related intimidation or violence: Harare (71%), Manicaland (70%), Bulawayo (57%), and Mashonaland East (53%). By contrast, a majority of citizens in Midlands (52%) and Matabeleland South (51%) say they do “not at all” fear political intimidation or violence during election time.”