Zimbabwe Opposition Party to Compensate Violence Victims

Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party says it will compensate victims of political violence if confirmed as the country’s next government after the current deadlock over election results is resolved, APA learned on Wednesday.

MDC deputy president Thokozani Khupe said her party was prepared to compensate its supporters who have lost property or have been injured in the violence that has followed the announcement of last month’s election results.

“An MDC government will make sure that we will compensate you,” Khupe said Wednesday after meeting party supporters who claimed they were victims of a terror campaign allegedly unleashed by the ruling ZANU PF party.

She, however, did not say what type of support her government would offer to the victims of political violence. Some of the opposition supporters said they had been driven out of their homes in rural areas and have been staying in the capital, Harare, since the announcement of results of parliamentary elections held on May 29.

Others said they have been staying in mountains to escape attacks by suspected ZANU PF militias allegedly assisted by the army.

The MDC has said about 10 of its supporters have been killed in the politically motivated violence, charges denied by ZANU PF and the police.

Zimbabwe is in the middle of a political stalemate involving the delayed release of results of presidential elections also held on March 29.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has not returned to the country since embarking on an campaign to mobilize international support to pressure President Robert Mugabe to concede defeat and hand over power to him.

Tsvangirai says he won more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the election to beat the long-serving Mugabe and avoid a second round contest.

Source African Press Agency

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