HARARE (AFP) — A month before a run-off vote, Zimbabwe's opposition said Tuesday a campaign of violence and intimidation designed to fix President Robert Mugabe's re-election had now killed over 50 of its supporters.
As the veteran president's rival Morgan Tsvangirai launched a fund for victims of the violence since the first round of voting on March 29, his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said its supporters were being displaced across the country ahead of the second round on June 27.
"Over 50 Zimbabweans have been killed in the past six weeks, many thousands more have been injured, displaced or had their homes destroyed and properties looted," said Tsvangirai, who only returned to Zimbabwe at the weekend after being absent for six weeks over fears for his safety.
"The time of intolerance and destruction is coming to an end. The time for peace and prosperity is beginning."
While Tsvangirai only touched on the issue of the run-off election, one of his top lieutenants stepped up accusations that attacks allegedly led by followers of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party formed part of a broader strategy.
"Access to the state media is totally closed, holding rallies is almost impossible and we had to appeal to the high court to get an order to hold our last two rallies," chief party spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP.
"As of yesterday, at least 50 of our supporters had been killed in violent attacks. The perpetrators of this violence have devised a new strategy where they abduct key members of the party and after some days you find the victims dead."
Chamisa however expressed confidence that Tsvangirai would still emerge triumphant from the poll on June 27 despite the efforts of the Mugabe regime to tilt the playing field.
"Despite all the disadvantages, our candidate Mr Tsvangirai will win the election. Our campaign is code-named 'Let's Finish It' and we are saying all these things are birth pangs as we move into a new Zimbabwe."
Tsvangirai won the initial election on March 29 but failed to garner enough votes to avoid a run-off, according to disputed figures compiled by the official electoral commission.
The original election day also saw Mugabe's Zimbabwe Africa National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) lose control of parliament for the first time since the 84-year-old came to power at independence from Britain in 1980.
Mugabe, who is Africa's oldest leader, launched his campaign for the run-off on Sunday, accusing Tsvangirai of seeking to return Zimbabwe to colonial rule and blaming his own poor showing in the first round on divisions within the party.
The run-off is taking place against the backdrop of a complete economic meltdown in the country where official inflation stands at over 165,000 percent. Unemployment stands at around 80 percent while even basic foodstuffs such as bread and cooking oil are now scarce.
Having been regarded a post-colonial success story in the years immediately after independence, the economy began going into freefall at the turn of the decade when Mugabe embarked on a land reform programme which saw the state expropriate thousands of white-owned farms.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Finance Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said the government planned to increase financial support to households who struggled to feed themselves.
"Food insecure households will now be paid 150 million (Zimbabwe) dollars up from 25 million," he told reporters.
The figure is less than the cost of a loaf of bread.
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