A columnist in The Standard has given a background of most of the abductions and assassinations that happened since during the liberation struggle. Here are is the list as published by The Standard:
October 15, 1975, Edson Sithole and his secretary Miriam Mhlanga were grabbed by unknown assailants, bundled into a car and were never seen again. A few weeks earlier, Sithole had fallen out with other nationalists leading to a split of the UANC and the reshuffling in the ranks of both Zapu and Zanu
1989: Captain Edwin Nleya disappeared in suspicious circumstances from an Infantry Battalion in Hwange. Nleya had threatened to expose senior army officers who were involved in poaching and smuggling ivory outside the country
May 1990: Rashiwe Guzha, a secretary in the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), disappeared. At the time of her disappearance, Guzha had just broken off an affair with the then CIO deputy director Edson Shirihuru
Early 90s: Marceline Dzumbira worked for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and disappeared shortly after she had allegedly kidnapped her husband’s alleged mistress
June 19 2000: Patrick Nabanyama, who was a polling agent for David Coltart in the violent June 2000 parliamentary election, disappeared after being abducted on June 19, 2000
November 5, 2001: Cain Nkala, a Bulawayo war veterans’ leader, was abducted from his home by 10 men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles. He was taken away in a truck and later strangled to death.
May 13, 2008: Tonderai Ndira was abducted from his home by 10 armed men in the morning of May 13, 2008, in the context of campaigning between the two rounds of the 2008 presidential elections. His body was found later in the month. Reports said he had been shot in the heart, had multiple stab wounds, his eyes were gouged, his tongue was cut out and his neck, skull, jaw and knuckles were broken.
July 17, 2008: Abigail Chiroto was kidnapped by armed men who then petrol-bombed the house she shared with her husband. Her blindfolded body was discovered close to the couple’s house the next day
December 3 2008: Jestina Mukoko, human rights activist, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project and former ZBC newsreader, was abducted during the night from her home by suspected state agents for allegedly being involved in plans for anti-government demonstrations on December 3, 2008
February 8, 2012: Paul Chizuze, a prominent human rights activist, vanished under unclear circumstances. He was last seen around 8pm on that day when he left his home. His whereabouts remain a mystery. It is feared that he was abducted and murdered by political rivals.
March 9, 2015: Freelance journalist and pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara (35) was taken by five unknown assailants from a barbershop in Glen View, while he was getting a haircut. Four years later, he is still missing.
August 21, 2019: Samantha Kureya (Gonyeti) was abducted in the dead of the night from her house by people who identified themselves as police. She was bundled into an Isuzu truck, which drove to an unknown place where she was beaten up, forced to roll in sewage and to drink it as punishment for “mocking the government”.
