OUR DEPARTURE FROM ZIMBABWE

My name is Givemore Chindawi and my wife’s name is Enika Mazarire. We come from Zimbabwe in a province called Bulawayo. Our constituency is called Lobhengula-Magwegwe, ward 29 and is headed by The Honourable Fletcher Dulini our MP. Our departure from our country was the result of our human rights which were being abused by the so called war veterans of ZANU PF (the ruling party of Zimbabwe). It all started in April 2000 during the campaign for Parliamentary Elections. Both my wife and I supported the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change). In that party I was the organising secretary in the men’s wing at district level. My wife was in the women’s wing, although she held no post. My duties were as follows:

• Selling membership cards
  
• Distributing T-shirts
  
• Organising party meetings
  
• Recruiting new members (some from Zanu PF to our MDC)
  
• Maintaining the structure and the security of the party
  

I also tactfully took my time with them, realising the fact that there were many more than me and that by taking me to their offices, they could lock me up till night and have me secretly disappear. My wife saw from a distance that I was surrounded by people who appeared to quarrel with me and she quickly phoned other MDC members, who came to my rescue and the men fled away. Then in the few days that followed, we heard that the same group of war veterans had abducted one of our MDC members called Patrick Nyamanyama. He was the campaign manager of David Coltart our MP for Bulawayo South constituency. That is how the war veterans operate in Bulawayo, secretly like that because Bulawayo is a strong hold of MDC. If they pounce upon you secretly and win, they have you disappear like that. It was too bad for our Patrick because up until now he is nowhere to be found.

Then in my case, on 27th June 2001 after the elections for Parliamentary seats, 4 Central Intelligence Officers of ZANU PF came and visited my wife at my house. They pretended to be MDC members who had come to collect me for a meeting in town. My wife thought they were suspicious and telling lies, so she told them that I had gone to town already. Then, before they went away they promised that they would come back any time. On 29th June 2001, the same men returned in the dead of night and violently knocked our door down. The men searched high and low for me, and also harassed my wife who was alone. I had heard rumours that C.I.O. men were looking for me, so I constantly changed places and spent nights away to save my life. When I returned home the following morning my wife was in tears, telling me that the C.I.O. had searched the whole house and got some MDC party documents. Luckily enough they missed my personal documents like passport, MDC special party documents, I.D. documents etc. as my wife kept them safely hidden away.

That was then my turning point in life, I finally packed a small bag and kissed Zimbabwe good-bye. On 1st July 2001, I headed to South Africa and I arrived the next day in Pretoria to stay for awhile at a friend’s home. They organised a ticket for me to fly to England and I arrived on 21st July . I was met by his friend at Heathrow airport and later he helped me to register at an I.T. college to study as an I.T. student. Back home in Zimbabwe, my wife was in worse trouble because those C.I.O. men kept terrorising and harassing my wife and tortured her. They wanted to know my whereabouts but she kept on denying any knowledge of my disappearance. Finally in November 2001, I told her to sell everything that we owned and to withdraw all the money that was left in our bank accounts, in order for her to follow me. Then she also came via South Africa and on 17th November 2001, my wife arrived here in the UK.

Unfortunately, her passport was taken by the Immigration Officers who doubted her status. She claimed to be a genuine visitor but luckily enough she has managed to gain entry to the UK. Now that we are both reunited, we are seeking political asylum to ensure our safety. While we seriously without hinderance work tirelessly for our politically, economically and socially paralysed Zimbabwe. Last but not least, as I tirelessly contact some party members back home, they tell me that they are still being terrorised by C.I.O. and war veterans because of the death of Zanu PF Cain Nkala. He died just before the presidental elections. My MP The Honourable Fletcher Dulini is being charged with the murder of Zanu PF Cain Nkala because it happened in our constituency.

Update: On 29th July 2002, Givemore Chindawi was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

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