Justice stalled for victims of Zim political violence

AN investigation into the handling of political violence cases by Zimbabwean police has exposed a deep-rooted pattern of systemic inaction.

Interviews with opposition activists reveal a troubling trend of stagnation: cases are left unresolved, with no arrests or charges, perpetuating a cycle of impunity and fuelling violence.

Since 2000, Zimbabwe's elections have been tainted by violence, with human rights organisations highlighting the 2000, 2002, 2008 and post 2018 election periods as particularly brutal. Decades later, many victims are still seeking justice for violtions of their rights.

 Despite identifying their attackers, many victims report that the police fail to take meaningful action, fostering a climate of impunity that only emboldens perpetrators.

An investigation by the Zimbabwe Independent, in collaboration with Information for Development Trust, a non-profit organisation supporting investigative reporting focusing on communities, uncovered numerous cases of political murders and violence dating back to 2021 that remain unresolved, with victims’ families living in a cloud of uncertainty.

Police have consistently failed to provide updates, leaving families without hope.

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Testimonies from victims of political violence paint a bleak picture of the aftermath — job losses, displacements, discrimination, and fractured family ties.

Systemic injustice The failure of the justice system to hold perpetrators to account has eroded trust among victims and their families. This has allowed perpetrators to act with impunity.

Many victims end up abandoning legal channels in favour of spiritual beliefs. They seek solace in ancestral spirits, hop[1]ing for retribution through supernatural means.

“Sometimes I go to his grave and speak to him,” Mollen Banga, widow of slain Gutu activist Nyasha Zhambe, said. “I ask him to fight for himself, to fight back. It pains me to see his killers walking scot free. I will only find peace when the killers have been arrested and imprisoned.

“The law may have failed us, but surely the spirits cannot. He reported the mat[1]ter to the police before he died and even identified his assailants but he succumbed to the injuries before they were arrested. ”

Zhambe was assaulted by Zanu PF youths on October 14, 2021 and died from his injuries at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare on November 27, 2021.

The youths had mounted an illegal roadblock along the Gutu-Masvingo road in October 2022 to block opposition sup[1]porters from meeting with the then Citizens Coalition for Change leader, Nelson Chamisa.

Another victim, Patrick Chimbare of Gutu, has also lost faith in the police. After being assaulted by a Zanu PF youth member, Chimbare was instead arrested for public violence.

“I was beaten up and left for dead but Robson has not yet been arrested,” Chimbare alleged.

“I am a builder by profession, but I cannot work anymore because my hands were permanently injured during the as[1]sault. What hurts more is I am the one who was arrested for that case.

“I was convicted for public violence at the Gutu Magistrates Court and I served two weeks before the High Court over[1]turned the judgement.”

Former Mabvuku Tafara legislator James Chidhakwa, who was abducted and tor[1]tured by unknown assailants, voiced his despair over the absence of any arrests in his case.

Chidhakwa was left for dead in the Arcturus mining area in Goromonzi district, some 30 kilometres east of Harare. He sustained permanent injuries to his left leg and right hand.

“There is no hope for justice under Zanu PF leadership,” he said.

“If some perpetrators, who were identi[1]fied as in the case of the murder of (Tapfumaneyi) Masaya have not been arrested, what about in my case where I could not identify the perpetrators?” Masaya, a CCC member, was killed after he was allegedly abducted on November 11, 2023 in Mabvuku while campaigning  for a party candidate Febion Kufahautizwi ahead of by-elections in the constituency.

Perpetual victimisation The investigation also revealed that postelection violence in 2023 continued to haunt opposition activists, particularly those from the CCC.

Many CCC supporters were displaced after the August elections, fleeing to safe houses to escape retribution from Zanu PF supporters.

A CCC member, Vongai Tome, reported that as of September 2024, 1 740 cases of rights violations had been documented, and 25 CCC activists emigrated while four others remained in hiding due to ongoing political victimisation.

Perpetrators, often linked to the ruling Zanu PF, continue to operate with impunity. Bishop Abton Mashayanyika, who made death threats against Chamisa, was reported as saying he was “too Zanu PF to be arrested”.

This sentiment resonates with other victims, like Anna Chuma, who was allegedly assaulted in October 2023 in Gutu. She reported the matter at Chatsworth Police Station under case reference (CR) number 33/10/23.

Despite knowing her assailant, police have failed to act, even sug[1]gesting Chuma brings the attacker to the station herself.

She was assaulted on October 16, 2023 ahead of the Gutu West by elections. “I know the guy who assaulted me. His name is Vimbainashe Bhunga, but the police just said he was on the wanted list although he is in the neighbourhood,” she alleged.

“Sometimes police would tell me to bring him to them. Seriously, how do they expect me to convince my assailant to come with me to the police station?

“But the harassment still continues. He knows I cannot fight back and he cannot be arrested.” Efforts by the Independent to obtain police up[1]dates on political violence cases have been met with silence.

On June 25, the Inde[1]pendent sent a formal letter to the police requesting details on the case, after which it made daily phone calls. Formal requests for information have gone unanswered, and multiple visits to the police general headquarters yielded no results.

Police inaction on politically-motivated criminal cases have prompted the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to lodge a complaint against officers who are reluctant to investigate a case where Zanu PF Senator Anna Rungani’s driver allegedly killed and injured CCC members in a road traffic accident.

The accident occurred on July 30, 2023 at Nyika Growth Point in Bikita and claimed the life of Cathline Mupamhadzi and injured Potifah Mwanza, both renowned CCC members in Bikita district.

In a letter dated July 25, 2024 addressed to Police Commissioner General Godwin Matanga, ZLHR, acting on behalf of Mwanza, said a year after the crime was committed, the accused person, John Esau Taruvinga, had not yet appeared in court.

Part of the letter reads: “Our client now believes the political influence of the owner of the vehicle is now being used to deter the matter and the entire process is no longer being executed within legal and ethical framework of the ZRP.” Seeking justice, State betrayal For those seeking justice, the experience is often one of betrayal. Some victims, initially called as witnesses, later found themselves facing charges.

In one instance, five CCC activists in Gutu were summoned to the police sta[1]tion to discuss an assault on a colleague but were instead charged themselves and sentenced to a year in prison. They spent two weeks in jail before the High Court overturned the charges.

The five, Tapiwa Chiro, Privilege Goremushandu, Brian Sithole, and Takudzwa Mashiri, all from Chatsworth, Masvingo province, had been summoned to assist in Chimbare’s case.

“I stayed in jail and served for two weeks for trumped-up charges,” Chimbare said.

“I was assaulted, and I was blamed for the assault. The assailant left me for dead, but I went behind bars with those injuries. What justice is that?

“The High Court found us not guilty, but who will compensate for the two weeks we served in jail, the life we lost during the time we were accused persons for the offence?”

Banga was arrested on November 30, 2021, just a day after her husband’s burial, but was released shortly afterward. Her arrest followed a confrontation with her husband’s suspected murderer.

In another case, Chari Mudzingidzi, a CCC candidate for Mazowe South, was acquitted by a magistrate in Concession in September 2024 on charges of defeating or obstructing the course of justice.

Ahead of the 2023 elections, Mudzingidzi had reported Zanu PF supporters to the police for tearing down his campaign posters. However, in June 2024, he was instead summoned and accused of that very offense."

Flawed investigations

The investigation also revealed significant flaws in police documentation, including incorrect dates, misspelt names, and missing details.

Victims frequently endure exhausting bureaucratic hurdles, only to have their cases remain unresolved.

Chuma is one such victim, initially diected to her local Chatsworth police station but later told to travel to Masvingo to file her complaint.

The journey was not only long and expensive, but also physically exhausting and emotionally taxing. Unfortunately,

Chuma’s experience is far from unique.

Many victims endure similar ordeals, being passed from one office to another with  no resolution in sight.

"I reported my abduction and torture at the Harare CID Law and Order, but my case was never even recorded," recounts CCC councillor Womberaishe Nhende, who was abducted, tortured, and later dumped by suspected State security agents.

"I returned to the police multiple times, offering to identify my abductor, but they simply refused to act."

This bureaucratic maze often discourages victims from pursuing justice altogether.

The urban-rural divide

 Opposition activists in rural areas face even greater challenges than their urban counterparts. While activists in cities sometimes benefit from solidarity and media attention, those in rural areas remain isolated, unsupported, and unheard.

Their stories rarely reach social media or attract human rights campaigns, leaving them especially vulnerable and voiceless. High-profile campaigns like #FreeTimba, #FreeSikhala, and #FreeNamatia have been launched for jailed activists, yet some rural residents of Chatsworth were convicted and had served part of their sentences before the High Court quashed their charges — without any social media campaign rallying for their freedom.

In the end, Zimbabwe’s justice system continues to fail victims of political violence, fostering a culture of impunity that leaves the country’s most vulnerable at risk.