A Zimbabwean man has died after he and other opposition party supporters were ambushed by suspected supporters of the country’s ruling party on their way to a campaign rally west of the capital, Harare, stoking fears of growing violence three weeks before elections.
Police confirmed the death and said two suspects had been arrested, as the country’s information ministry called for calm.
“An incident of public violence” had left one person dead “as a result of … clashes”, police said in a statement, without referring to the victim’s political affiliations.
Witnesses said the victim was in a group travelling to a rally held by the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change party in Glen Norah township when they were ambushed by suspected supporters of Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. The CCC named the victim as Tinashe Chitsunge.
Video footage posted on social media showed unidentified men throwing stones at opposition supporters and a man wearing a yellow shirt lying on the ground. Several party supporters were injured, according to the CCC spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere.
The death came during an increasingly contentious and volatile period three weeks before a general election on 23 August that pits the incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, against the opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa.
“It’s not a crime to wear yellow or be a member of CCC,” Mahere said. “No person should be killed for their politics. This marks a dark stain on our democracy.”
Ahead of the polls there have been reports of incidents of violence and intimidation of CCC members in rural parts of the country, according to the US organisation Human Rights Watch.
“Zanu-PF supporters have engaged in widespread harassment, threats, and acts of violence, preventing opposition parties from staging rallies, mobilising, campaigning, and associating with supporters across the country,” the HRW said in a report published on Thursday.
Chamisa, who at 45 became the youngest presidential candidate when he stood unsuccessfully in 2018, called supporting his party a choice of “death or Zanu-PF” for some, especially in the countryside.
“Mnangagwa is clearly triggering a national crisis,” Chamisa, the president of CCC, said in an interview with the Associated Press on Friday. “He is driving the country into chaos. He is actually instigating instability. He is violating the law. He is tearing apart institutions of the country.”
Mnangagwa has maintained a rhetoric of peace and tolerance in the run-up to the election.
Chamisa has faced several hurdles on the campaign trail as he tries for a second time to break Zanu-PF’s 43-year stranglehold on power. Several opposition rallies have been banned amid a renewed crackdown by the courts to prevent candidates from running.
One of the CCC’s top officials, Job Sikhala, remains in prison for over a year after he was arrested for inciting violence.
Zimbabwe’s elections have since 2000 been marred by electoral violence and malpractice, and there are fears that the southern African country could be heading for another compromised and disputed poll.
“Zimbabweans deserve peace, they deserve rest. They have suffered for a long time,” Chamisa told AP.
