Villagers forced to choose between life and death

From Themba Nkosi in Bulawayo
07 December 2005

Villagers in Tsholotsho district in northern Matabeleland have told SW Radio Africa that during the senate election campaign they were asked by ruling ZANU-PF councillors and officials to choose between life and death.

They were told that choosing life meant voting for the ruling party. Voting for the opposition MDC was like choosing starvation and death. The villagers said they were left with no choice but to choose life by voting for the ruling party candidate, Josephine Moyo despite the fact that the area is an opposition stronghold.

‘We had run out of food and we were threatened that if we continued voting for the MDC, aid organisations would be stopped from distributing relief food,’ said one villager, Mluleki Nyathi of Siphepha village.

According to the villagers, a few days before the election, aid workers from the Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress, ORAP, arrived in their villages accompanied by Zanu (PF) officials.

Zanu (PF) officials addressed the villagers before ORAP workers handed over relief food. This was however in contravention of electoral laws. A high court Judge in October ordered ruling party officials to stop using food during election periods. The Judge said this during the hearing of two MDC election petitions.

But it appears the ruling party continues to defy the electoral laws by using food as a political tool. ORAP is the partner of World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations relief agency. ORAP has been distributing relief food in Matabeleland on behalf of WFP. We were unable to get a comment from ORAP officials in Bulawayo.

A teacher at Siphepha, who was one of the polling officers during the elections, told us that villagers were given a choice of choosing starvation by voting for the opposition or to vote for ZANU-PF and continue to receive food.