by Luke Zunga
The SADC leaders must orchestrate the removal of the current commissioner Augustine Chihuri first. The MDC must demonstrate how, under Chihuri a system of executioners has developed and they abduct, kill, torture, publicly beat citizens, banish them, rape the women and do whatever they want to control citizens. This is why Zimbabwe needs a new commissioner of police.

Independent Executioners

The political executioners who operate in the rural areas are backed by the CIO, the police and the army, but are independent of ZanuPF Political structures.

Zanu(PF) candidates benefit from these structures which fall under the president's office.  The chiefs, headmen and political branches and cells work together, but the executioners operate independently.

For example, they can threaten a chief and physically hurt or discipline anyone who falls outside the party line be it a member of parliament or minister. A minister or parliamentarian who is at odds with Mugabe cannot go back to his or her constituency fo fear of being beaten up.

The executioners are controlled by a command structure peppered with war veterans up to national level where the demographic planners are a few smart well-educated civil servants, reporting to the presidency or CIO heads.

Duties of the Executioners

These armed political executioners work with spotters to patrol villages and wards, to monitor and interview anybody arriving questioning them of their reason for being in the village. 

People who resist or are suspected of belonging to another party are banished or abducted, refused food or clinic treatment, their homes burnt. People are subjected to all kinds of torture and end up asrefugees in neighbouring countries. 

The executioners are protected by police who cover their tracks. If you report to the police, the police arrest you.Journalists are not allowed and private cameras are confiscated. 70% of the voting population reside in the rural areas under these circumstances which removes the freedom to decide.

The methods that have been used to cow the people:

1. Denying media. Newspapers are confiscated and burnt and the holders terrorized.

2. Forced attendance of ZanuPF political indoctrination gatherings mostly at night(pungwes), a system used during the war.

3. Public beatings, beatings or torture so hard that the person will die later of inflict.

4. Armed executors visiting individuals homes at night to abduct, terrorize or kill.

5. Abductions, people just disappear, especially at night without any trace, some having

been thrown into disused mine shafts.

6. Refusing food or medical treatment.

7. Controlling food – anyone who wants to buy food must first report to the chief of

headmen to get a letter authorizing the person to buy the meal meal.

9. Reducing development activities and promising youth of money or future work.

10. Deploying national service youth(green bombers) from time to time in areas where

opposition activity is sited and to rout them.

11. Forcing every youth to go through indoctrination national training(green bombers) to

be stand a chance of getting a job in government. Rural youths are attracted by this

false carrot.

12. Collecting information for and receiving from CIO’s.

13. Spreading propaganda, with the assistance of political structures about opposition and

the West

Result

The result is that, other than ZanuPF, there is no opposition political activity in the rural areas now.The rural people are constantly harassed, spied on and terrorized to keep them in line.As unrest increases with some opposition parties trying to make inroads in the rural areas many are victimized or killed.

 The executioners have been working all the time, to control the new rural settlements, and align them to ZANU. That is why we saw consistent refugees into South Africa. 

Mugabe thought he had secured the status quo towards this 29 March election, and relaxed to encourage a free and fair report by election observers. The space allowed some rural areas to express themselves or defy the executioners. But after the elections the executioners sprung into action, supported by all security structures to suppress again.

 Urban Areas

The security structures are visible in towns. The urban areas are characterized by media clampdowns, refusal of public gatherings, CIO activities, police clampdowns.

Conclusion

Conclusively, it is difficult to expect fresh political direction for the next 5 to 10 years.

The economy has worsened and the environment cannot support its revival. Even if there is a change of leadership, the prospects for fast economic growth are grim. Many analysts predict that the worst is still to come, when Mugabe gives way to his chosen successor, but available to freely marshal the structures he created to rout any other contender to his appointee under amendment 18.Zimbabwe will continue to be unstable.

Recommendation

If you talk to rural fork they say “People can talk to us and we understand but when they are gone executioners come to ask and harass us. You need some kind of peace keepers who are permanently based in the rural areas to neutralize these executioners”.

We would recommend the mediation to secure an agreement that:

• The Presidents huge budget allocations used to pay CIO (and the rural structure) is stopped. The rural executioners are paid stipends/salaries every month from the Presidents budget.
• The Presidents fund be subjected to audit. Currently it is not audited.
• Prohibition of state payments to party workers in the rural areas.
• That the CIO fall under the police, so that the Presidents budget is only for diplomatic issues.
• Transitional government which hopefully will take away control of finances used to operate the rural structure. 
  “Employing (salaried) local peace monitors to stop those who beat, abduct, burn, threaten rural people. They have to be local recruits, resident in the areas in the rural areas.These peace monitors will restraint the executioners, follow up abducted people and free them.”