MDC-T National Chairperson Senator Morgen Komichi has issued a strong warning saying that zimbabwe is headed for a bloody and more violent election next year if the current wave of politically motivated violence and intolerance is not stopped
Speaking during a program hosted by 263Chat with support from the Zimbabwe Reveal For Generations Trust (ZRGT), Komichi said it is unwise to go ahead with the elections as the outcome is already known due to ZanuPF’s continued hold of power.
Senator Komich further stated that the ruling party’s power is under threat hence it will resort to all forms of violence to intimidate voters in order to retain control of the state.
We are heading for the worst electoral violence in our history. Normally, we have violence but at no point have we witnessed this kind of increased violence during by-elections. In all other by-elections in the past, we were not experiencing this level of political violence.
“This is because there were no power struggles. By-elections usually don’t shift power dynamics. These ones are a clear indication that we are headed for a disaster. Next year’s elections will see more blood than before. There is a lot of fighting and there will be a lot of victims of violence
“Next year’s elections will change the power dynamics, there is a possibility that the ruling party might lose the elections and the part has a history of power retention. Whenever their power is threatened they will fight back so violently and they will do anything to get it back.
“We saw what they did in 2008 when they probably lost to MDC-T A lot of people were murdered and displaced. We see this coming. We need to sit down and find ways how to mitigate this situation that is coming through,” Komichi warned.
His remarks follow reports that political violence was on the rise this year due to highly contested by-elections.
According to recent reports from the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (ZHRNGO Forum), a total of 1,901 politically motivated cases have been recorded so, most of whom were recorded during the by-elections since the beginning of the year.
Komichi’s remarks were supported by Patriotic Zimbabweans (PZ) Spokesperson, Shelton Mupambwa who said Zimbabwe has a culture of violence which needs to be cleaned out.
“Our political history is tattered in violence. From the formation of Zapu and Zanu, these two were involved in a war. Even in our political parties, there’s a lot of intraparty violence, so it is within our culture have not come up with solutions to condemn violence People have not seen that violence can be stopped.
“We need to reengage all the citizens, and everyone and relook at our political systems. Our systems foment violence, we have slogans that foment violence. This is where the tragedy is,”Mupambwa said.
Opposition leader, Herbert Chamuka has reiterated calls for the abolishment of next year’s elections saying they save no purpose when the country is in a bad shape.
He said political parties must find a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis before they can go for elections.
“We call on all leaders to think about the future of the country. There should be other means to address these problems we have other than elections. There is no point in going for an election we know the results of,” Chamuka said.
Zimbabwe is poised to go to an election early next year after a tough five years under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
