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Opposition Leader Tsvangirai Visits Victims of Violence


FILE: Morgan Tsvangirai captured at a village in Zimbabwe visiting people who strongly believe that he will form the next government after performing dismally in the last elections which the former trade unionist claims were rigged by Zanu PF. (VOA Photo; 2013)
FILE: Morgan Tsvangirai captured at a village in Zimbabwe visiting people who strongly believe that he will form the next government after performing dismally in the last elections which the former trade unionist claims were rigged by Zanu PF. (VOA Photo; 2013)

Founding president of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, on Thursday visited some victims of political violence in Harare’s Budiriro high density suburb following weekend clashes between his party’s members and some Zanu PF supporters.

As Mr. Tsvangirai’s motorcade negotiated its way through the potholes to local legislator Costa Machingauta’s house where some victims of the weekend violence had sought refuge, some MDC-T supporters followed it and sang revolutionary songs as the opposition leader was speaking with the victims.

In no time, hundreds of people had gathered at Machingauta’s house prompting Tsvangirai to address them.

The former prime minister took a swipe at suspected Zanu PF supporters who allegedly attacked members of his party at the weekend.

One of the victims, Doesntmater Mawana, told Tsvangirai that most MDC-T supporters are now living in fear.

Machingauta told the gathering that some unidentified police officers are allegedly working in cahoots with Zanu PF supporters to victimize suspected MDC-T members.

He alleged that Zanu PF had set up a base at Budiriro 5 shopping Centre where commuter omnibus operators are forced to pay a certain figure daily for them to be allowed to ply the City-Budiriro.

Machingauta also alleged that some vendors were being forced to attend Zanu PF meetings at the makeshift base.

But Mr. Tsvangirai said all this was unnecessary, saying the primary focus of the sitting government is to create employment opportunities for its people.

After addressing the gathering, Tsvangirai visited some vendors at Budiriro 5 Shopping Centre to get the information first hand. There, he was followed by several people who were praising him for visiting them but the joy was short-lived when he passed through the Zanu PF base where some of the ruling party’s members clad in party regalia hurled insults at him.

Some of the Zanu PF activists used words that cannot be aired.

Meanwhile, some MDCT supporters blamed the weekend violence on Godfrey Gomwe, the Zanu PF provincial chairperson for Harare. However,

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Gomwe has shifted the blame to Machingauta.

President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai have repeatedly called for an end to violence but their calls seem to be falling on deaf ears.

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