The Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) has called on the Government to accept an externally mediated national dialogue that involves the military as a way of resolving the country’s deepening political and economic crisis.
In their monthly report for August titled “Zimbabwean Crisis Deepens: Government Denies” the Institute says the month was characterised by militarisation of state institutions.
“The month of August was characterized by a continued militarisation of state institutions, unprecedented human rights violations as evidenced by the continued incarceration of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Transform Zimbabwe (TZ) opposition party leader Jacob Ngarivhume of The political rot is increasingly becoming worse as witnessed by torture, abduction and murder of government critics particularly opposition members by alleged state security agents,” read the report
The political think tank says the crisis continues with human rights violations that has seen the continued incarceration of political activists and harassment of lawyers.
“The country’s crisis continues to deepen unabated regardless of dismissal of such by the government.The human rights crisis is compounded by the economic rot as inflation continues to rise steeply coupled with acute devaluation of the local currency against the United State Dollar (US$).”
ZDI called on the Government to engage with stakeholders and implement the much needed economic and political reforms before 2023 elections.
“The government of Zimbabwe must immediately accept an externally-mediated national dialogue involving the military with an objective of solving the deepening crisis that the country is engulfed in. The dialogue must prioritize the urgent need to accomplish the much needed economic and political reforms before 2023 elections. These reforms are a critical component in ensuring the conduct of credible elections without the subsequent creation of legitimacy crisis as was the case of 2018.
“The government of Zimbabwe, without delay, must stop the politicization of the judiciary to clampdown on dissent including opposition members, lawyers, journalists and activists. The government of Zimbabwe must put into practice the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights through promoting and respecting peoples’ liberties and investigate all reports of state-sponsored violence against opposition.” noted ZDI
There has been widespread reports of abductions mainly on opposition political activists who have been critical of the Government.
