Propaganda war rages amid Zimbabwe violence

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party reported an upsurge in violence against its supporters as the government reiterated warnings that it would clamp down on unrest.

The Movement for Democratic Change alleged a police purge was continuing in its urban strongholds, with at least 35 of its supporters needing hospital treatment after beatings by ruling party youth league members and state agents patrolling townships in unmarked vehicles.

“Similar stories are coming in from centres all over the country. All the injured are being dealt with in private hospitals as all state hospitals are instructed not to take in MDC activists, no matter what their injuries,” it said in a statement.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said seven labour activists were arrested for distributing leaflets about the union’s planned strike on April 3 and 4.

The latest clampdown followed a speech by President Robert Mugabe on Friday to youth leaders urging them to “get prepared for a fight” and warning opposition activists if violence continued they would again be “bashed”.

A fiercely pro-Mugabe columnist in the state Herald, a government mouthpiece, also warned activists that angry police and troops were ready to violently curb their activities.

“Woe betide the unfortunate back on whom the blows will land,” said the columnist – Mugabe’s chief spokesman George Charamba – writing under the pen name of Nathaniel Manheru.

As the propaganda war heated up, the government continued to blame its opponents for the violence.

Police said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was injured on March 11 after resisting arrest for inciting violence.

But his aides recounted he was arrested at the local police station where he had gone to find colleagues picked up from a convoy of cars heading across rough ground toward a prayer meeting after police barricaded approach roads.

Mr Tsvangirai continued to recuperate at his Harare home yesterday from head injuries, hand fractures and severe body bruising. He has accused police of forcing him to lie face down while he was beaten with riot sticks, iron bars and clubs.