Armed war veterans last week violently broke up a meeting called by the Christian Alliance, a coalition of churches fighting for political change in Zimbabwe, to launch a womenÂ’s branch in the Midlands town of Kwekwe. President Robert MugabeÂ’s ruling Zanu PF party has in the past seven years used veterans of ZimbabweÂ’s 1970s liberation war as its foot soldiers to harass and crush the ruling partyÂ’s political opponents.
The war veterans, who were armed with axes and knobkerries, stormed the Roman Catholic Church Parish in Redcliff and ordered that the Christian Alliance should not proceed with plans to launch a womenÂ’s branch in the area. They also threatened to kidnap Father Mapfumo, who presides over the Catholic Church in Redcliff working class suburb if he allowed the group to proceed with the launch in his church. The war veterans accused the Christian Alliance leadership of plotting together with the main opposition MDC to overthrow Mugabe, in power since ZimbabweÂ’s independence from Britain 27 years ago.
The war veterans have since 2000 been a virtual law unto itself after they spearheaded the violent seizure of white farms as part of MugabeÂ’s efforts to redistribute land to landless blacks. Scores of white farmers and over a hundred supporters of the MDC party were killed during the political disturbances, sparking a waver of international condemnation for MugabeÂ’s government. Mugabe has since last March stepped up a crackdown on the opposition and other voices of dissension ahead of key presidential and parliamentary elections next year that political analysts have said he and his party could lose. |