VICTIM . . . Harare has not acted against those responsible for last year's political violence

HARARE – Zimbabwean non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have named top military commanders accused of masterminding a ruthless campaign to keep President Robert Mugabe in power in a second round presidential election in June last year that left scores of villagers dead and thousands others displaced from their homes.

In a report released as regional leaders gathered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to among other issues review political progress in Zimbabwe, the NGOs said the Harare power-sharing government had neither acted against those responsible for violence nor dismantled the militarised structures of violence.

The NGOs grouped under the umbrella Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) named 77 senior military and police commanders it said spearheaded terror across the country’s 10 provinces.

Some of the more prominent officers named in the report are: Air Vice Marshal Henry Muchena, Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai, Air Vice Marshal Abu Basutu, Major General Engelbert Rugeje, Retired Major General Gibson Mashingaidze, Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba as well as some several senior operatives of the dreaded state-spy Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

Zimbabwe’s army and police are credited with keeping Mugabe in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence last year to force Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai from a second round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the then main opposition leader to win.

Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot held  March 29 last year but failed to achieve outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll.

The former foes eventually bowed to pressure from Southern African Development Community (SADC) community leaders to agree to form a government of national unity that analysts say offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity in a decade to end its multi-faceted crisis.

But the CZC report entitled, “Can apples be reaped from a thorn tree – Zimbabwe’s road to transition”, said the unity government has paid little regard to the need for justice for victims of political violence and human rights abuses.

In addition, the coalition said there was no evidence that the power-sharing government has dismantled the structures of violence or recalled soldiers and youth militia from villages they were deployed last year to commit violence and said it had received fresh reports of new torture bases being set up in some parts of the country.

The report that was released at the weekend as SADC leaders travelled to the DRC for their annual summit said: “The media environment, legislative environment, the militarisation of the villages, state and its critical institutions created during the sham (June) election seem to remain intact, seven months after the formation of the Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe.

“There is no clear evidence that the soldiers who were deployed to different communities during the violent poll have returned to the barracks.”

The CZC also criticised the selective application of the law that had continued under the unity government with several legislators and activists of Tsvangirai’s MDC party arrested and charged on trumped-up charges.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was not immediately available to comment on issues raised in the NGO report.

Zimbabwe’s unity government has done well to stabilise the economy and end inflation that was estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the country’s economic meltdown last year.

But doubts remain about the administration’s long-term effectiveness, fuelled by unending squabbles between Mugabe’s ZANU PF party and the MDC as well as by the unity government’s inability to secure direct financial support from rich Western nations.

Outgoing SADC chairman and President of South Africa President Jacob Zuma on Monday appealed to Zimbabwe's political parties to "remove obstacles" so as to fully implement last year’s Global Political Agreement (GPA) that gave birth to Harare coalition government. – ZimOnline