zakanaka

From The Zimbabwe Standard, 10 April


Lupane MDC official's house burnt down

By Savious Kwinika

Bulawayo - Suspected Zanu PF supporters last weekend allegedly torched and
razed to the ground a thatched house belonging to Richmond Zitha, an MDC
campaign manager for the newly elected Lupane MP, Njabuliso Mguni, in post
election retribution, The Standard has learnt. Mguni said household
property, including two bicycles, a wardrobe, school uniforms, clothes,
birth certificates, 21 bags of cement and $2.1 million in cash were
destroyed during the arson attack. The arson came a few days after Zanu PF
activists in the area threatened to "deal" with all suspected opposition MDC
supporters. Police in Jotsholo confirmed the incident and said
investigations into the arson were still in progress. "Investigations are
still in progress so we can not point fingers at anyone," said one police
officer. Mguni said the arson, which he believes was carried out by
suspected war veterans and Zanu PF supporters was in retaliation for not
voting for the losing Zanu PF candidate, Martin Khumalo, in the 31 March
parliamentary elections. He said the war veterans had allegedly moved around
the constituency harassing people they suspected of voting for the MDC in
last month's elections. "War veterans called a meeting last week at
Dongamuzi Village in Lupane, where they read out a list of MDC campaign
committee members and threatened to deal with them. Richmond Zitha's name
was among them. The next day Zitha's house was burnt down, destroying most
of his property, except for a few items which they managed to salvage,"
Mguni said. Mguni also said Zitha, a retired social worker, is seen as a
threat, by the war veterans because he is a very influential politician. "He
is a very vocal and influential man, and the war veterans are scared of him,
as he also played a huge part in me garnering 119 votes in Dongamuzi (a ward
that is considered a Zanu-PF stronghold) against Zanu PF' s 194 during the
31 March poll," Mguni said.