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| author/source:Daily Telegraph (UK) |
| published:Thu 12-Jun-2008 |
| posted on this site:Thu 12-Jun-2008 |
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| Article Type : News |
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| The treeless area, where nothing grows, has been taken over by Zanu PF's militias |
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Harare - President Robert Mugabe was accused of bringing "war" to Harare after his militias attacked the poorest townships of Zimbabwe's capital. The new onslaught marked a major escalation of his campaign to guarantee victory in the presidential election's final round on June 27. Remote rural areas had borne the brunt of the violence and suffered most of the 53 murders confirmed so far. Harare, a stronghold for Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, had been relatively quiet. On Sunday, hundreds of men from the ruling Zanu PF party raided Harare's township of Epworth. Lidia Mulenga, 26, fled after her house was burned down. "They were shouting about Zanu PF and wearing Zanu PF T-shirts. I think they were youth militia," she said. "They used petrol on the house and then set it alight. I ran with the kids. Other houses were attacked. I don't know how many as I was running away."
Mrs Mulenga, a single mother whose husband died in 2003, lives in a derelict part of Epworth, bordering an old farming district that has been devastated by Mr Mugabe's seizure of white-owned land. The treeless area, where nothing grows, has been taken over by Zanu PF's militias, who claim to be veterans of the war against white rule. Mrs Mulenga and her children, Kisha, seven, and Tariro, five, are now sheltering along with hundreds of others in the Harare headquarters of the MDC. Willias Madzimure, an opposition MP, was trying to help another influx of displaced people. "There are so many houses burned or destroyed. They come and loot first, then they burn or destroy the property they don't want. These people are very, very poor. The war is now in Harare," he said. The MDC put the number of murders at 66, with another 200 people missing and 3,000 seriously injured. A Western diplomat in Harare estimated that 50,000 had been forced to flee their homes.
As well as targeting Harare, Zanu PF has tried to break the MDC's organisation by assassinating key activists. Five have been murdered so far. Another tactic is to create vast "no-go" areas, where the party exerts total control and can murder and intimidate at will. This may explain why Mr Mugabe has stopped foreign aid agencies from operating inside Zimbabwe. His behaviour has stirred concern among his neighbours. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa said the "incidents of violence and reported disruption of electoral activities" were a "cause for serious concern and should be addressed with all urgency". But he studiously refrained from apportioning any blame.
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