Three more opposition supporters die in Kariba<\/p>\n
HARARE (AP): Political violence has claimed the lives of three
\nmore opposition supporters and also threatened to deprive
\nZimbabwe's economy of its biggest hard-currency earner, officials
\nsaid on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change,
\nsaid two supporters died in attacks on Tuesday in the northern
\nlakeside town of Kariba, and five others were injured - two
\nseriously.<\/p>\n
A third opposition supporter, from a Harare township, died
\nfrom injuries received in an assault Monday. Details were not
\nimmediately known.<\/p>\n
The attacks brought to at least 11 the number of people killed
\nin political violence since February, when voters rejected in a
\nreferendum a proposal that would have allowed the government to
\nseize white-owned farms without compensation. Since then, black
\nsquatters have occupied about 1,000 farms, and parliament passed
\na law allowing farms to be confiscated with no payments to the
\nowners.<\/p>\n
The farm occupations drastically cut deliveries of the tobacco
\nharvest - which earns 36 percent of the nation's hard currency -
\nto the tobacco auction on the first day of the bidding season on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Only 3,500 bales - about one-third the amount on a typical
\nopening day - went on sale Wednesday. Once those were sold, the
\nauction floors would be closed until more tobacco was delivered.<\/p>\n
"Normally this is a joyous occasion, but the events of the
\npast 10 weeks have made it otherwise," said David Morgan, head of
\nthe auction floors. Traditional opening ceremonies of the auction
\nwere canceled.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe is the world's second biggest tobacco exporter after
\nBrazil. The product earned $335 million here last year.
\nFarmers appeared to disbelieve a pledge Tuesday by Agriculture
\nMinister Joyce Mujuru that police would enforce law and order in
\nfarming districts.<\/p>\n
Squatters -- many of them supports of President Robert
\nMugabe's ruling party - have killed two white farmers with links
\nto Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party. But black
\nsupporters of the party have paid a bloodier toll.<\/p>\n
Tsvangirai alleged police made no attempt to stop violence
\nTuesday against his party's supporters in Kariba, 370 kilometers
\nnorthwest of Harare on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Ruling party militants armed with clubs and iron bars roamed
\nthe town, breaking into homes and searching for opposition T-
\nshirts and flyers.<\/p>\n
Tsvangirai said his officials linked ruling party lawmakers to
\nthe latest violence.<\/p>\n
"We can't fold our arms while our members are being killed.
\nAre we to turn the other cheek. Lives are being lost in
\ndeliberate actions by the state," he said.<\/p>\n
Without police protection, the opposition group decided "we
\nwill have to devise strategies for our own protection," he said.<\/p>\n
Farm workers have also been swept up in the violence.
\nSquatters have beaten the workers and ransacked and torched their
\nvillages, accusing them of submitting to pressure from their
\nwhite employers to back Tsvangirai's party.<\/p>\n
"We are talking about a state of siege, a state of total
\nonslaught of innocent civilians," Tsvangirai told reporters.<\/p>\n
Mugabe has insisted that the occupations are a justified
\nprotest by land-hungry blacks against a few thousand whites who
\nown about a third of the nation's productive land. But opponents
\nof the government accuse Mugabe of allowing the violent
\noccupations to shore up his flagging popularity ahead of national
\nelections expected to be called later this year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/three-more-opposition-supporters-die-in-kariba-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}