Heavy Presence Of Soldiers At Road Blocks

However, the heavy presence of the soldiers are scaring travellers who fear being beaten up.

“Following complaints from motoring public that police officers manning roadblocks are demanding bribes the authorities saw it fit to deploy Army officers on roadblocks throughout the country who are watching them,” a police officer who did not want to be named told Radio VOP .

However, passengers said they were scared. “We are…afraid of these people especially when they come into a bus to search it. It remands us of the June 2008 violence,” said a passenger at Mapinga road block.

Zimbabwe suffered both pre and post election violence following the March Harmonised elections in 2008 and the re-run presidential election which took place in June. About 200 people mostly from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were killed while thousands others were displaced from their homes.