Violence continues

Elvis Marume, 42, a teacher at a faith-based school in
Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province, has been threatened with death by
alleged elements of the ruling ZANU-PF party's youth militia in response to
rumours that he had spoken disparagingly about the country’s land reform
policy.

"I was sleeping with my family when a gang of about eight youths, whom I
know as they reside in a nearby village, knocked on the front door and
demanded to see me. Not suspecting anything, I opened the door for them and
one of them violently pulled me outside,” he told IRIN.

"They showed me what looked like a gun and told me that they were going to
kill me because they had received reports that I was teaching my students
that the land reform programme was bad because it had created food shortages
in the country."

Marume has since applied for a transfer to the capital, Harare, hoping for
safety, but there has been an upsurge of political violence in many parts of
the country, including Harare, ahead of possible national elections.