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Politically motivated violence ahead of the Zengeza by-election sets tone for next general election
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2004-10
Monday March 8^th – Sunday March 13^th 2004

Civil society’s recently expressed fears that next year’s parliamentary elections will not be free and fair were reinforced in the week under review by more news of politically motivated violence ahead of the Zengeza by-election, scheduled for this month-end.

Once again, only the private media reported this news. SW Radio Africa was the only organisation to report three new incidents in the constituency, all of which blamed ZANU PF supporters, while MDC activists, including the party’s candidate, were reported as the victims.

The Daily Mirror (8/3 & 12/3), Studio 7 (11/3) and The Zimbabwe Independent (12/3) also all carried stories attributing political violence in Zengeza to ZANU PF supporters. However, these stories relied heavily on the MDC as the source and largely lacked independent corroboration.

Typically, ZBC ignored the continuing violence and merely reported (13/3, 8pm) that ZANU PF and MDC candidates had agreed to campaign peacefully. The broadcaster was silent on what exactly prompted that agreement.

The Sunday News (14/3) commended the candidates’ stance but criticised "the British-sponsored MDC" for threatening to boycott the 2005 elections saying it "has chosen to throw spanners in the works" because it was crumbling.

Nevertheless, the government media’s reluctance in exposing ZANU-PF’s responsibility for the violence was well illustrated by The Herald (12/3) when it simply quoted the Electoral Supervisory Commission official, Thomas Bvuma, as saying "the commission [ESC] had received complaints of violence from both Zanu PF and MDC candidates" without elaborating. The next day the paper merely noted in vague terms that there "have been reports of minor skirmishes between supporters of some parties vying for the seat". Although it implicated both ZANU PF and the MDC, it still tried to lay all the blame on the opposition, "Violence, known in MDC circles as jambanja, begets violence and does not win votes". Apart from the Zengeza violence, the private media also exposed other human rights abuses in the country during the week. For example, SW Radio Africa reported six such cases where ZANU PF supporters and members of the security agents were implicated.

The Standard (14/3) carried two stories on the harassment of teachers by ruling party youths.

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