By Joylene Mtandwa | Zanu PF activists here have violently kicked out local accredited voter education, election monitoring and observing civil society organizations, who were observing the Bikita West constituency.
According to sources a newly formed peace promotion Non-governmental organization Zimbabwe Peace Actors Platform (ZimPAP) , Zimbabwe Review for Generations and Masvingo Residents Trust are some of the affected CSOs.
ZimPAP said the affected NGOs had their senior officials threatened with unspecified action before being given marching orders from the politically tense district.
ZimPAP had deployed civilian peace keepers in Bikita West constituency to monitor the political environment in the area.
The organisation’s civilian peace keepers who are trained citizens in monitoring and reporting cases of intimidation, and political violence said local and bused Zanu PF militia this week declared Bikata West a no go area for civil society organizations who were providing voter education .
ZimPAP spokesperson Tichanzii Gandanga , said they were very much disturbed by not only the booting out of voter educators and election monitors by Zanu PF militia and officials, but also by the political violence and intimidation of opposition party members in Bikita west.
“We see this as just but a warning of a tense political environment which the country is going to experience until after the holding of the 2018 elections, and we would like to implore the police and the state to investigate and bring to book the perpetrators of such violent acts,” said ZimPAP spokesperson in a statement.
Gandanga said they were also disturbed by the assault of the opposition National Constitution Assembly (NCA) political party candidate for Bikita West constituency, Madock Chivasa and his election agent, Thomas Mudzamiri, by suspected Zanu PF youths in the area this week.
“ We are also advising the public not only in Bikita, but nationwide to identify and report individuals and political players they would have seen perpetrating violence through social media platforms which have proved to be a very strong and effective form of information dissemination,” he said.