5.8.1. From the discussions conducted with some members of the
community, it was noted that on the morning of 14 January 2019 many
people started the day by conducting their daily routines as usual.
Some went to the fields, others to work and sent their children to
school.
5.8.2. In Chizhanje area around 9am, witnesses stated that a group of
people mostly tough looking heavily built men (mamonya) who were
wearing shorts arrived in the area making a lot of noise barricading the
roads with stones and boulders and burning tyres on the roads. They
proceeded to Mutare road. A few hours later there was confrontation
between the police and the protestors as the police were trying to
disperse the crowd. At other times the crowd would advance towards
the police. The crowd was throwing stones at the police and shouting
threatening to kill the police officers. The crowd was in a serious
fighting mood.
5.8.3. The police then left and a few minutes later a helicopter made circles
and left. About 5 hours later they saw the army lorries passing and
calling people to remove stones and other barricades from the roads.
People did not remove the barricades. The soldiers came back later
around midnight breaking into people’s houses beating them and
telling them to go and remove the barricades from the roads. As they
beat the people, they were telling them to go and remove the
barricades. All the people interviewed stated that the people who made
noise and barricaded the roads were not from their neighborhood.
5.8.4. The ZHRC had a focus group discussion with nine (9) men who said
the soldiers came in the area around midnight. They would knock and
call out all men. If no one came out they would break in. All the young
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