September 2018 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Interpretative analysis Reprisals against opposition supporters particularly in rural areas was expected considering that in the pre-election period, several reports of threats of post-election violence were recorded from different parts of the country. Villagers were told that if they made wrong electoral choices there would be war or they would not receive aid from the government. The intimidation and harassment that characterised the pre-election period has continued with traditional leaders also being implicated. Traditional leaders feel emboldened after Chief Fortune Charumbira in defiance of a court order refused to retract his remarks of supporting the ruling Zanu PF party. Failure by the government to censor the leader of traditional leaders has contributed to this situation. Reports of traditional chiefs threatening people on behalf of the ruling party have been most pronounced in Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central. The continued distribution of food aid and farming inputs on a partisan basis shows that the perpetrators seek to exploit the poverty of citizens to gain a political advantage – poverty as a strategic tool to manipulate the poor. Partisan distribution of food aid and farming inputs has also remained contested because of how it is perceived as a political tool of domination by those with the powers to administer the resources. In most cases, the ruling party activists are simply making good of their pre-election threats that they would withhold food aid to those who do not vote for ruling party candidates. The cases have also been recorded where the threats were more common in provinces such as Midlands, Mashonaland East and Manicaland. Access to state funds has also been restricted to only those who can demonstrate affiliation to the ruling party at the Women’s Bank. This is in violation of the right not to be unfairly discriminated against on the basis of political affiliation. Citizens have a right to food which is being violated through partisan distribution of food aid. In an extreme case of entitlement, a losing Zanu PF candidate caused food and inputs not to be distributed in a bid to frustrate the new MDC Alliance councillor. Political polarisation is standing in the way of citizens fully enjoying their right to access food aid and benefit from other state resources. The fight for the control of the opposition MDC Alliance is one of the leading causes for the infighting and imposition of Mayors in urban councils. With one eye on the impending congress in the opposition MDC Alliance, different factions have been jostling to impose loyalists in influential positions. While Nelson Chamisa remains in charge, the leadership of the opposition remains disputed and the mooted congress on a day yet to be announced has fuelled the jostling. The amalgamation of some parties into one MDC Alliance party has angered some elements in the opposition party whose influence has been diluted. Internal party contradictions are not limited to the opposition, but are also visible within the ruling party as a witch hunt to sideline those who are perceived to be G40 and worked against President Mnangagwa is underway. Economic clusters that were known to be controlled by G40 members such as vending and housing cooperatives have been targeted as the government moves to restore order but depriving many citizens the right to livelihoods in an economy that remains highly informal; demonstrative in the removal of vendors on the allegations of spreading the cholera bacteria and the appointment of the Commission of Inquiry on the sale of urban state land respectively. This has been a source of conflict as some of those involved in these economic activities have fought back. In Amalinda, Harare for example, violence broke out when police demolished the homes built by people who said they had been allocated land by a Zanu PF youth. Vendors in Harare also fought back and threw stones at police and some of the vendor stalls and flea markets such as Queen of Grace in the Central Business District (CBD) are known to be controlled by youths affiliated to G-40 and the former first lady. The turning away of school children for non-payment school fees is indicative of a worsening socio-economic situation in the country. It is also a sign of impunity as school authorities continue to defiantly send pupils away in violation of the constitution that guarantees basic education for children as well as the general comments of the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural rights with specific reference to the rights of the child. The 9