11
Table 5.
Feelings about time allowed for testimony.
Did you have sufficient
Percentage
time for your
testimony?
Enough
73%
Too little
15%
Too much
12%
There were some differences in the groups over whether they had been able to convey all that
they wished to say to the court. As can be seen from Table 6 below, only Chiredzi North, the
losing petition, felt that they had been unable to convey all that they wished.
Table 6.
Zvishavane
Mutoko South
Hurungwe East
Chiredzi North
Total
Said everything
wanted?
100%
100%
100%
30%
79%
As indicated above, cross-examination can be very intimidating, especially to an inexperienced
witness, as most were. Even more intimidating in these cases might have been the presence of
the opposition candidate – the respondent – who was in all cases accused of violence or
masterminding violence against the witnesses. As can be seen from Table 7 below, this did seem
to have an effect upon some of these victims, although some also felt empowered by being able
to testify in front of the respondent.
Table 7.
Feelings about appearing before the respondent
Confortable in front of
Different if
respondent?
respondent absent?
Zvishavane
100%
100%
Mutoko South
100%
100%
Hurungwe East
10%
30%
Chiredzi North
0%
0%
Total
42%
49%
One of the most surprising results to one of the questions illustrated that many felt that it was
important to testify in front of the petitioner in these cases, the Zanu (PF) candidate.
Respondents were asked if it would have made a difference if the respondent were absent and if
they felt comfortable testifying in his or her presence.
Some were made uncomfortable or they felt threatened:
Heroism in the Dock: Does testifying help victims of organised violence and torture? A pilot study from Zimbabwe.