Harassment and intimidation of teachers and their trade unions continues in Zimbabwe in the lead-up to the June 27 election to determine whether Robert Mugabe of the ZANU-PF or his opposition challenger Morgan Tsvangirai will win the presidency.
Tsvangirai, who was detained for eight hours on 4 June, has been virtually prohibited from campaigning, while other opposition leaders have been charged with criminal offences for criticising Mugabe. The Guardian newspaper reported that “state-sponsored violence against grassroots activists and voters has left at least 50 people dead and tens of thousands homeless.”
On 9 June the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe was forced to close its office in Gokwe after 15 people, allegedly ZANU-PF militants, stormed the office and demanded its closure. According to a report from PTUZ President Raymond Majongwe, the intruders also stole union documents.
“Our secretary who was attending to some walk-in members complied. The instructions were very clear: That today, 9 June, is the last day this office should open,” he said in an email to EI.
On 7 June the PTUZ regional coordinator was assaulted at Gokwe Business Centre by the same group accusing him and “your PTUZ” of masterminding the defeat of ZANU-PF in and around Gokwe, Majongwe reported. And the previous day, a PTUZ member named Mr. Tinarwo was abducted and seriously assaulted at a lodge owned by a ZANU-PF senator for the area.
“Reports of violence against teachers continue flooding our offices. We are very worried,” Majongwe said.
Mugabe’s controversial decision to order major international agencies to suspend food aid is also widely seen as an attempt to use food as a political tool to intimidate hungry voters.