13 The campaign for the by-election began very quietly with public statements from all parties that the election would be peaceful. This did appear to be the case for the early weeks, and there were no reports of violence or intimidation. From 30 August, the peaceful nature of the campaign was altered. A vehicle, clearly marked with ZANU (PF) (Mashonaland East), was seen driving around the constituency. In the vehicle were 17 men, including two locals from Chikomba who were identified by local people. This vehicle was reported at the scene of several abductions of MDC supporters, and at least four of MDC supporters abducted were subsequently tortured. Details of these cases are given below in Appendix 2. Subsequently, Victor Mugazi, headmaster of Maronda Mashanu Secondary School, fled into hiding after his wife was severely tortured by suspected ZANU (PF) supporters, and Felix Mazava, another headmaster, was murdered, again by suspected ZANU (PF) supporters. Dr Ndanga, the MDC candidate, received credible information that there would be an attempt made on his life, and went into hiding on 8 September. He was informed that Phillip Bako, a war veteran related to him, had been instructed to lure him to Bako’s home where the assassination was to have taken place. Subsequently, Bako visited the Ndanga homestead, seeking to see the candidate, but was prevented from doing so by relatives of Dr Ndanga. Bako has subsequently filed charges of assault against these family members, but these charges are denied by all the accused. Various members of Dr Ndanga’s family were subsequently arrested by the ZRP in a very hostile arrest during which the ZRP fired shots in the air despite there being no provocation. The accused were taken to Chivu and Sadza police stations, and all but two have been released34. Dr Ndanga subsequently received further information that he wa still being sought by ZANU (PF) supporters and that his life remained in danger. ZANU (PF) held a rally about 500 metres from his family home this past weekend (16-17 September), and members of his family were pressured to attend. During this time, the ZRP entered his home and searched the premises without a valid search warrant. As indicated above, it initially looked as if the Chikomba by-election would herald in a new era of peaceful co-existence between the two major parties. Zanu (PF) party leaders announced that they would discourage party activists from outside the constituency from taking an active role in pre-election activities. This was done ostensibly to quell pre-election violence. Previous byelection violence had been exacerbated by the presence of activists from outside the contested area. In addition, local Zanu (PF) youth and MDC youth shared a social gathering early in the pre-election period. This was an absolutely unprecedented event for both parties. However, this atmosphere of cooperation was quickly dissipated as violence and intimidation again became the order of the day. Reports emerged that area residents were forced to purchase Zanu (PF) cards. These allegations were also made against the MDC resulting in local residents rushing to purchase a card of each party. Soon rumors began to circulate that only people in possession of Zanu (PF) party cards would be eligible for resettlement, government jobs, loans or self-help projects. Pre-election activities took a turn for the worse when Zanu (PF) conducted a door-to-door campaign on 2-3 September. This exercise focused mainly on discovering and intimidating opposition party supporters. Party cards were routinely checked and opposition party supporters were either threatened or assaulted. Residents were also told that ‘machinery’ would be used to discover votes with the implication that there would be retribution for anyone who did not support 34 See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2001), Report on Election-Related Political Violence in Chikomba, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. AMANI TRUST: Organised Violence and Torture in the Bye-Elections held in Zimbabwe during 2000 and 2001.