Election Support Network: Zimbabweans Politically Traumatized
Jonga Kandemiiri
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) says 90 percent of people in Mashonaland Central East and West provinces do not want to publicly identify themselves with Zimbabwe’s political parties due to fears of being victimized.
In its July/August report released Monday, ZESN said many citizens feel unsafe to wear T-shirts and related material associated with some political parties.
They said Zanu PF supporters are normally free to use their party regalia because they are not victimized by members of other parties.
The organization further said 80 percent of people in Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo, are free to use political party regalia without any challenges.
A recent survey conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute had similar findings though the nation-wide poll indicated that 47 percent of Zimbabweans do not want to be associated in public with political parties.
ZESN director Rindai Chipfunde-Vava said the only way to deal with this problem is through conducting public awareness campaigns on the rights of voters by all political parties and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
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Interview With Rindai Chipfunde-Vava
Meanwhile, our Midlands correspondent Taurai Shava reports that as the three political parties in Zimbabwe’s unity government fight over the drafting of the nation’s new constitution, non-governmental organizations are pressing ahead with a campaign encouraging youths to register as voters.
