Nelson Chamisa, the President of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has expressed shock at the government’s failure to condemn the increase in politically motivated violence, particularly against his supporters. Four members of the opposition party have been killed, allegedly by State Security agents and ZANU PF youths, with some cases confirmed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).
Chamisa spoke to journalists after visiting the family of Tapfumaneyi Masaya, a preacher and CCC supporter who was abducted, tortured, and killed by alleged ZANU PF supporters while campaigning for a CCC Parliamentary candidate. Masaya’s battered and bruised body was discovered on Sunday after an extensive search by his colleagues and family. The former ICT minister said:
We have seen an escalation of this challenge. In the past year we have lost Mboneni Ncube, Moreblessing Ali, a comrade in Gwanda, we nearly lost Takudzwa Ngadziore, we lost Tinashe Chitsunge in Glen View 7.
What is shocking is that there is no statement from government to convey condolences, to discourage this kind of tyranny and terror, to try and correct the settings of murder in the context of our elections.
We cannot even start to speak of an absence of convictions. Culpability stands at the doorstep of those who are supposed to preside over the state.
Mbongeni Ncube was stabbed at a rally held by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in Kwekwe in 2022. The attackers were believed to have been funded by former State Security Minister Owen Ncube. Moreblessing Ali was kidnapped, and murdered and her body was dismembered allegedly by Pius Mukandi, also known as Jamba, a ZANU PF youth in Nyatsime. Mukandi initially confessed to the crime but later retracted his statement, claiming he was forced to admit to a crime he didn’t commit. Tinashe Chitsunge was stoned to death by ZANU PF youths before Zimbabwe’s General Elections this year.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Justice Ministry have not commented on these killings. The police are the only public institution investigating the incidents. Members of Parliament from the CCC have demanded action regarding the abduction and murder of CCC members.