4 bodies of slain MDC activists recovered

4 bodies of slain MDC activists recovered

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FOUR Zimbabwe opposition activists were found dead near Harare on Thursday ahead of next week’s presidential election, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said, blaming the deaths on the ruling party.

The four MDC youth members were abducted on Tuesday and their bodies were discovered in various locations in Chitungwiza, southeast of Harare, said party spokesman Nelson Chamisa.

Chamisa said the MDC suspected they had been beaten after being attacked at a local councillor’s residence by Zanu PF youth supporters armed with clubs and whips.

"Now it’s about 70 we’ve lost," Chamisa said, referring to the number of opposition supporters they say have been killed since the first round of the election on March 29.

"The situation in the country is getting worse. A free and fair election is impossible."

Militants loyal to President Mugabe are said to have launched the attack on the house of the MDC chairman for Chitungwiza district Phellimon Chipiyo using petrol bombs before abducting four youths.

Three of the four – Archford Chipiyo, Yona Gendi, Ngoni Night – were part of a group holding a night vigil at the MDC chairman’s home in Chitungwiza’s Unit F suburb.

The fourth victim -- who is still to be identified -- was a passerby who was caught up in the skirmishes, according to sources.

Three of the bodies were discovered in the Beatrice farming area along the Harare-Masvingo road and the fourth body was found in Zengeza.

MDC officials said the militants involved in the abductions numbered about several dozens after a smaller group had been repelled in clashes with MDC supporters a few hours earlier.

Four unmarked double-cab trucks, a mini-bus owned by an identified army officer and a Mercedes Benz sedan belonging to a local cop accompanied the mob, according to MDC officials.

The militias who were singing and chanting Zanu PF slogans and denouncing MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, are said to have pulled down the perimeter dura-wall at the house before hurling stones and petrol bombs into the property.

Gun-totting goons ransacked the house searching for Chipiyo who had to jump over a neighbour’s perimeter wall to safety.

After failing to apprehend the MDC district chairman, the marauding militias seized his son Archford -- a teacher -- and two other youths who had been trapped in the house.

The fourth victim was abducted in the street near the house as the militias drove away from the scene. Efforts to identify him or his next of kin are still in progress.

The attack left the eight-roomed house in smoke and flames with all windows shattered.

The attackers also looted property including a fridge, television set, radio, video player, clothes, blankets and kitchen utensils which were loaded into waiting vehicles, according to family sources.

A grieving Chipiyo told New Zimbabwe.com his son had died a painful and violent death at the hands of Zanu PF thugs, some of them well-known war veterans in the area.

Chipiyo said: “I know my son died a very painful death. He must have died before they left this place because the amount of blood in the house tells me that the attack was severe and brutal."

The soft-spoken MDC chairman said he was lucky to be alive as the attackers had made clear that they wanted his head.

He said: “I am lucky to be alive because they wanted me dead. They could have shot me if I had not been thrown over the durawall by some youths when a gun was pointed at me."

Chipiyo who was very thankful to the brave youths who saved him said two bullets missed him and hit the wall.

On Wednesday, the body of the Harare mayor's wife was discovered hours after she was abducted with her four-year-old son.

Abigail Chiroto, 27, was kidnapped on Tuesday by armed men who then petrol bombed the house she shared with her husband, Emmanuel Chiroto, the recently elected mayor of Harare and a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Also on Wednesday, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a group of 38 non-governmental organisations, announced the brutal killing of one of its election observers, Elliot Machipisa, in Karuru, Hurungwe.

The ZESN said Machipisa was killed in the morning of June 17 “as his family helplessly looked on”.

President Robert Mugabe has blamed the MDC for mounting violence ahead of the June 27 run-off election and threatened to arrest opposition leaders over it.

The MDC says the ruling party unleashed a campaign of intimidation after the first round in March, with party leader Morgan Tsvangirai claiming the country is now run by what is essentially a "military junta."

The UN has blamed Mugabe’s supporters for the bulk of the violence.

Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the March first round, but with an official vote total just short of an outright majority. - AFP
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