Over 200 senior army officers, deployed countrywide to help secure the violent re-election of Robert Mugabe in last year’s one-man presidential run-off, are still deployed in the villages. The MDC, who 3 months ago entered into the coalition government with ZANU PF, raised their concern in a statement issued after their 9th annual conference over the weekend.

Scattered across all 10 of the country’s provinces, the deployed commanders presided over a brutal campaign of retribution, targeting all those suspected of voting for the MDC in the first round of elections in March last year. Over 130 people were killed, thousands tortured and tens of thousands displaced from their homes. The operation was sanctioned by the notorious Joint Operations Command and spearheaded by army general Constantine Chiwenga, with funding from the Reserve Bank, under Gideon Gono.

It is the maintenance of this structure of violence and intimidation in the villages which is worrying the MDC. For example each senior army officer commanded a team of soldiers comprising so-called war veterans and ZANU PF militants in the area. Buhera West MDC MP, Advocate Eric Matinenga, last year successfully sued in the High Court to have the rampant army units removed from his constituency. On the day he went to serve them the court order he was arrested for allegedly inciting violence. He was eventually acquitted last week but has vowed he would not forgive his accusers.

Some of these commanders, like Major General Engelbert Rugeje deployed in the Masvingo Province, forced people to attend ZANU PF rallies. ‘We are soldiers. We do not ask for things; we force things. On Friday (June 27) we are going to make sure that you go and vote, not for any person of your choice, but for President Mugabe. I am not asking you to do so but we will force you to go and vote. As soldiers we enjoy war,’ he infamously said.

Newsreel spoke to co-Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa, and he confirmed they had intelligence reports that the army units are still living within the civilian communities. He said they wanted the army out of those areas and back into the barracks. Mutsekwa said they will be approaching the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee to tackle the issue. Another route would be to urgently convene the newly constituted National Security Council, that is meant to replace JOC, but which Mugabe is yet to approve.

With a coalition government in place it is worrying that these army officers are still deployed in the provinces. Meanwhile SW Radio Africa listeners living in Bindura and Mt Darwin have written in to complain about ongoing violence in their areas. Youth Minister Savior Kasukuwere is accused of sponsoring most of this violence, which involves the raping of girls and looting of property. Kasukuwere’s thugs include people like Dickson Mafios, Martin Dinha and someone known only as Mujambajecha.

In a show of how things have not changed, 3 MDC activists, Terry Musona, Lloyd Tarumbwa and Fani Tembo, were abducted from their homes by 3 state security agents on Tuesday. This is the second time the trio has been abducted, because in October last year they were abducted in Banket. They spent 4 months in illegal detention before being released without charge.

An MDC statement said that in this latest abduction the trio was taken to the Attorney-General’s office in Harare and told they had to testify against some of their colleagues, who are facing trumped up banditry charges, or face unspecified consequences. They were later released Wednesday morning and told to come back to court next week. The MDC have filed an urgent High Court application to block this bid to use the trio as witnesses.

Last year over 40 MDC and civil society activists, including a two year old boy, were abducted from their homes and kept at secret locations before legal pressure forced them to be brought to the courts. Several were to spend over 4 months in custody. The formation of the unity government has not stopped the ZANU PF regime from pursuing what a have been described as dubious charges.