The following is the content of a warning sent out today for certain Zimbabweans to prepare for the worst. It is notable that most of the people listed below have already shown great courage in the face of Mugabe’s goon police and militia. Of particular note, Jenni Williams was recently awarded a medal for her courageous and defiant stand against Mugabe’s brutality by Condoleezza Rice on behalf of the American Government. Jenni Williams had already been beaten and imprisoned on more than 30 occasions and when taken to court, the prosecution have been a joke and thrown out. What’s far worse is that she has already been threatened with death by a senior policeman in the presence of her lawyer. The are many men and women like Jenni who continue the good fight against this dictatorship. As Zimbabwe moves towards their next rigged election in March, the violence is increasing to greater levels on a daily basis.
Police brutality – the word goes out.
Another leaked memo reveals that those brave souls who oppose the Mugabe
regime are targeted by those who should defend them – our police.
Anyone who thought that all the news about a new party, a new presidential
challenger, and a Zanu-PF split might mean a lessening of the official
terror on the streets and in the homes of our country is doomed to be
disappointed. If anything, things are clearly about to get worse.
I learned this when, in what is becoming an every-day occurrence, a contact
within the state machine, who has become disillusioned with the Mugabe
method of running a country, showed me a confidential memo. I read it with
growing dread. The leaders of opposition groups in Zimbabwe must brace
themselves for a difficult time ahead.
The memo comes from within the police Law and Order Section – an ironic
title for a unit that excels in brutality and violence. It is numbered
LM05/2008, and is an internal communication signal, written by Senior
Assistant Commissioner L.D. Muchemwa, Officer Commanding the Bulawayo
district, and addressed to Police Commissioner Augustine on January 3 this
year.
This is what it said:
It’s basic message is that surveillance efforts are being stepped up against
Bulawayo-based members of the Opposition Movement For Democratic Change
(MDC) and leaders of other civic organisations.
Under the heading ‘Update On Election Preparations’ Muchemwa writes: “This
province has identified the following hostile individuals and stepped up
surveillance missions on them, as directed by your office… Our Law and
Order and PISI (Police Internal Security Intelligence) details have been
deployed to monitor and report on the activities of these. Their residential
places are also subject to daily routine checks, so as to gather as much
information as possible on their plans and people who pay them.”
The names on the list that follows are, of course, the usual suspects. That
includes, to begin with, most members of the MDC, including three members of
parliament, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, Thokozani Khupe and Felix Mafa. Also on
the list are the co-leaders of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, Jenni Williams and
Magodonga Mahlangu, and of course, former Archbishop Pius Ncube.
Only one name on the list is there in his individual capacity, rather than
being aligned with the protest movements. He is the courageous Zenzele
Ndebele, who, as I’ve previously reported, produced the stunning documentary Gukurahundi – A Time Of Madness, the story of Mugabe’s massacre of 20,000 civilians in Matabeleland in the Eighties. Zenzele is currently in hiding, and long may he remain in safety.
Finally, the memo reads: “This office takes security matters seriously and
these (the names on the list) will be dealt with accordingly, where it is
believed that they have committed a crime.”
A cold little sentence, but it carries a huge threat. I say to everyone
named on this appalling list: Please – be careful out there.
