Tofa, The Bible and the Quest for Democracy and Democratization in Africarule of law and according to Sithole and Ruswa (2003). This is true be-
cause on the 10th of December 2002, a leader of the war veterans de-
clared that:
We are not afraid of the High Court ... this country belongs to us and we will
take it whether they like it or not. The judges must resign. I am telling you
what the comrades want and not what the law says.
This culture of defiance of the rule of the law permeated though the
entire structure of political structures. Chikwanha, Sithole and Bratton
(2003) maintains that the war veterans and youth militia forced rural
citizens to attend rallies and overnight political orientation meetings
(pungwes) with the youth leading the way in forcing villagers to chant
pro-ZANU PF and anti-MDC slogans. Chikwanha, Sithole and Bratton
(2003) further argue that the president openly called on his supporters to
“crush the MDC” and he even boosted of “having many degrees in vio-
lence”.
This presidential call for violence occasioned ruthless killing of white
farmers during the land reform programme. For example, according to
Sithole and Ruswa (2003), on the 15th of April 2000, David Stevens was
kidnapped at his farm and taken to a police station in Murehwa, then
taken from the station with the knowledge, aid and blessing of the police
and tortured before being shot dead^10. The land reform programme
engendered the widespread displacement of hundreds of thousands of
farm workers.
The President’s gesture in itself sent a clear message to the pro-govern-
ment agents that they have the prerogative to commit political violence
without the law catching up with them. This explains why there have
been continued incidents of political violence perpetrated by the CIO
personnel in Zimbabwe. For example, in April 2001, Morgan Tsvangi-
rai’s aides, Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika were murdered in
open day light in politically motivated violence. According to The Daily
News of 15 March 2001, they were allegedly killed by staunch ZANU PF
supporters who were based at Murambinda growth point in Buhera.
Although overwhelming evidence against them was found, to date, no
punitive measure has been taken by the state^11.
(^10) Thulani Sithole and Gray Ruswa, “The Power of Propaganda: Public Opinion in
Zimbabwe,” (Afrobarometer: No. 42,2003).
(^11) See Lovejoy Makope “Joseph Mwale and Tom Kainos Found Guilty” The Daily News,
March 15, 2001, Editorial Section.