The chilling story of Takaendesa Chisese, a once vibrant and energetic man, serves as a stark reminder of the brutal violence that engulfed Zimbabwe in 2008, leaving countless victims scarred and broken.
Chisese, a dedicated member of the MDC, paid a heavy price for exercising his democratic right to choose his leader, a right he believed was a fundamental fruit of Zimbabwe’s independence.
His ordeal began on a quiet morning in 2008, when a mob of approximately 200 Zanu PF youth, armed with logs, stones, and bricks, descended upon his homestead. The attack, orchestrated by Zanu PF members from wards 19, 21, and 40 in Gutu Central, was a brutal display of power and intimidation, leaving Chisese and his family traumatized and his life irrevocably altered, Masvingo Mirror has reported.
“Zanu PF went to war to get power for itself and not for the people. Zanu PF has nothing to do with the people but to use the people to its own end,” says Chisese, his words fragmented by the trauma he has endured.
The attack unfolded with chilling efficiency. Chisese, caught off guard as he slept, was dragged from his bedroom and mercilessly beaten until he lost consciousness. His wife, preparing food for schoolchildren, was also attacked, bravely defending herself with a hammer before being overwhelmed by the mob. Chisese’s brother and daughters-in-law were also subjected to brutal assaults.
The perpetrators of this violence, many of whom are now dead, were known to the community. Notorious names like Rugwara, Maravanyika, Chipangura, and Border Zengeya still send chills down the spines of villagers, a testament to the fear and terror they instilled.
Chisese, beaten to a pulp, was then placed in a wheelbarrow and transported to Gonye Business Center, where Zanu PF had established a makeshift torture camp. The camp, a scene of unimaginable cruelty, was overseen by war veterans, the supposed liberators of the people, who watched with indifference as captured opposition members were subjected to brutal torture.
Victims were forced to lie down and flogged in public, their bodies bearing the marks of logs, whips, and sticks. They were made to roll in the mud, their pleas for mercy ignored by their tormentors. The torturers’ food supplies were stolen from opposition supporters, highlighting the callous disregard for human dignity that characterized the violence.
Chisese, barely alive, was eventually taken to Gutu Mission Hospital, where he received minimal medical attention, only painkillers to dull the excruciating pain. After three days, he was discharged, his mental state shattered, and placed on a bus with instructions to be dropped at his home, some 15km away. Lost and disoriented, he ended up in Bikita, 100km in the opposite direction, his family forced to find him and bring him home.
The attack on Chisese and his family was not an isolated incident. Thousands of Zimbabweans were maimed or killed in the 2008 election violence, a dark chapter in the country’s history. The violence, orchestrated by Zanu PF, was a desperate attempt to cling to power, a blatant disregard for the will of the people and the fundamental principles of democracy.
Chisese’s life has been irrevocably altered by the attack. He is now mentally deranged, unable to function independently, and reliant on his family for basic care. His family, thrown into poverty, struggles to make ends meet, their lives forever changed by the violence they endured.
Despite his suffering, Chisese has received no support from the government or the Department of Social Welfare. His story, a testament to the human cost of political violence, serves as a stark reminder of the need for justice and accountability for those responsible for the atrocities committed in 2008.
“Zanu PF turned our lives upside down. Our father was able to send us to school, to buy us clothes and give us food. Our family is an example to the locals of what Zanu PF stands for and can do to the opposition. When people here talk of Zanu PF’s violence, they give our family as an example. Zanu PF is a party of cruel men and women who cling to power through coercion,” said Takaidzwa Chisese, Takaendesa’s son.
