Family of MDC spokesman assaulted in village raid

By Lance Guma
30 May 2008

The 78-year-old grandmother of MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa, along with his mother and young brother, were severely assaulted early Friday morning when armed soldiers raided their rural homestead in Gutu. Two groups of soldiers numbering about 40 went about terrorizing villagers who were sleeping in over 100 homesteads in the Chiwara Village. They demanded that villagers show them Chamisa’s rural home while they shouted, ‘Tinoda Chitaka cha Chamisa (we want Chamisa’s heart)’.

Chamisa told Newsreel they beat up his family for over 2 hours and his 13-year-old brother, a grade 7 student, fainted four times during his assault. His mother was beaten while naked. Those assaulted were made to lie down on the floor on their stomachs while the soldiers beat them up. The soldiers later fired their AK-47’s into the air as they drove away from the area. Chamisa said the area resembled a war zone. He blamed the operation on army Major General Engelbert Rugejo, whom he said sanctioned the operation in the area.

Chamisa’s grandmother sustained a broken arm while other family members were also badly injured. He says he filed a report with the police who drove to the area and recorded statements from villagers. A distraught Chamisa blamed Mugabe for the violence and said liberation war heroes like Josiah Tongogara and Herbert Chitepo did not fight for the country’s freedom only to have Mugabe behave in this manner. He said he did not understand why the soldiers would look for him in the rural homestead when they knew where he worked in Harare.

Asked whether it was wise for the party to continue campaigning in such a climate of violence Chamisa said they would not allow Mugabe an easy victory by withdrawing from the run-off. He vowed that members of the party were prepared to die for a free Zimbabwe.