A local human rights organisation has expressed concern over increasing political tension in Zanu PF saying the infighting in the ruling party could threaten national peace in the country.
In a statement released on Friday, Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR Zimbabwe) said Zanu PF factional fights have been topping reports in the media which paints a gross picture of a country at war.
“We are greatly disturbed by the increasing political tension in Zimbabwe particularly the disturbances in President Mugabe’s ZANU PF party where the bigwigs are at each other’s throat.
“However it is very crucial to note that what is happening in ZANU PF is matter of concern when it comes to national peace and security.
“If the situation is not solved then we should brace for more violence in 2018 than we have never experienced before. This is so because unlike in 2008 where violence was inter-party, this time because of the factional fights the violence will happen on two levels i.e inter-party and intra-party,” said ROHR Zimbabwe.
The organisation also condemned what they said was impartiality of the police force who continue to refuse to sanction demonstrations by the National Elections Reform Agenda (NERA) against the takeover of BVR kit procurement by the government which they said tilts the electoral playing field in favor of the ruling Zanu PF.
“In that regard we would like to take this opportunity to condemn the attempt to silence NERA by not sanctioning its demonstrations and the presence of armed policy whenever Zimbabweans chose to voice their concerns through demonstrations.
“Given that there are few months left for Zimbabwe to go to the next election, this obtaining situation is a cause for concern as it is a recipe for electoral fraud and violence in 2018,” added ROHR Zimbabwe.
The human rights grouping called for unity of purpose among peace actors including all civic organizations, the media, police, government department like National peace and Reconciliation Commission and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Community Based Organizations, Business people, all political parties and the general public at large.
Through a peace project known as Zimbabwe Peace Actors Platform (Zim-PAP), ROHR Zimbabwe has already begun a process of mobilizing communities against political violence in the 2018 elections.
