Smash hit

Two weeks ago Dadirai Chipiro, the wife of an MDC official in Mhondoro communal area 100 miles south of Harare, had her hands and feet chopped off by Zanu (PF) attackers who then threw her into her hut and firebombed it. She was incinerated.

On Monday this week the body of Abigail Chiroto, 27, was found dumped on a farm with her head so severely smashed that she was unrecognisable. Mrs Chirot, the wife of the opposition mayor-elect of Harare, and her four-year-old son Ashley had been seized from their house in the suburb of Hatcliffe.

The boy, who was left at a nearby police station, told family members that he saw his mother being blindfolded and taken into the bush. When her body was found, she was still wearing a blindfold.

In Chitungwiza Mr Chipiyo was stoically receiving mourners, weeping as he walked around the rooms of his large house, gutted by petrol bombs thrown as the attackers left. Doors and furniture had been smashed. “They stole all my clothing, my blankets, my TV, my DVD,” he said.

Observers from African observer missions visited the house on Wednesday. “After what I’ve seen in the few days I’ve been here, my life will never be the same,” said one.

“Chitungwiza is terrible,” said a young nurse, her eyes wide with fear. “Last week they dragged my sister out of her house in the middle of the night and marched her with many people, who they also pulled out of their houses, to Zanu (PF) headquarters” — a distance of 20 miles. “They had to sing and chant slogans and salute all the way.

“When they were there, they were told that on election day, your name will be taken at the gate of the polling station, and when you come out you have to give them the number of your voting paper so we know how you voted.” Ballot papers in Zimbabwe’s electoral system each have a unique number that is torn off a matching counterfoil, a system designed to ensure the validity of ballot papers.

The arrival of observer missions from the Pan-African Parliament and the Southern African Development Community has done nothing to restrain the violence. In elections since 2000, Zanu (PF) has switched off the mobs and their attacks as soon as observers appeared, giving the impression of a tranquil election environment.

“Everybody hates Mugabe,” said a resident. “People are frightened, but they don’t want to vote for him.”

“My bags are packed,” said a young teacher. “I am going to vote and if it turns out the wrong way, I am leaving this country. There will be nothing for me here with Mugabe.”

The wave of government-sponsored violence has left no part of Zimbabwe untouched. Residents of Harare’s prosperous suburbs reported gangs of militants forcing maids and their families to attend meetings known as pungwes, a colloquial term for all-night political indoctrination.

“It shows how desperate Mugabe is,” said a Western diplomat. “He really is scared of losing the election, and the more people are beaten, the more determined many of them seem to become. He doesn’t care that all this is being witnessed and condemned by African observer missions, he is determined to win at any cost.”

Timetable of terror: how vote led to violence and menace

May 29 Zimbabweans vote in local, parliamentary and presidential elections. Supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change claim that its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has won more than 50 per cent of the vote, giving him outright victory. Election commission does not release official results for more than a month, giving Mr Tsvangirai 47.9 per cent and President Mugabe 43.2 per cent

April 2 Robert Mugabe appears in public for first time since first round of presidential poll

April 3 Campaign of intimidation begins as MDC offices are raided and foreign journalists arrested by riot police. “War veterans” attack last few productive farms, destroying equipment, produce and buildings

May Reports of mass beatings of MDC supporters. Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights says that more than 900 people have been treated in hospital after “incidents of organised violence and torture” since the start of April; violence increases markedly in first two weeks of May

May 16 Election officials announce that presidential run-off will take place on June 27, two months after first round. Mr Tsvangirai accepts date but calls the decision illegal and says that the contest can take place only in the absence of violence. Z$1 billion banknote introduced along with special “agrocheques”, with a top denomination of Z$50 billion

June 4 Mr Tsvangirai seized by police on his way to an election rally, the first of a series of detentions. Five opposition supporters forced to the ground by thugs, shot, doused in petrol and set alight

June 6 In separate attacks, militiamen burn to death the pregnant wife and six-year-old son of Brian Mamhova, an MDC councillor in Harare South district, and mutilate and burn to death Dadirai Chipiro, wife of Patson Chipiro, MDC head in Mhondoro district. Police ban Mr Tsvangirai from holding election rallies on the grounds that they could not ensure his safety. International outrage greets Government’s decision to halt all aid operations in the country

June 12 Tendai Biti, MDC Secretary-General, arrested at Harare airport. He is charged with subversion and election-rigging, which could bring the death penalty

June 16 Mr Mugabe tells supporters he will not cede power. “We fought for this country, and a lot of blood was shed. We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint fight with a gun?”

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