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A rights group has reportedly said that Zimbabwean ex-president Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace are human rights violators - in a new report.
According to the privately-owned Standard newspaper, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission's (ZHRC) 2017 report, said the Mugabes used the ruling Zanu-PF party youth interface rallies - before their dramatic fall - to attack and denigrate their perceived political opponents.
"(They) grossly undermined Zimbabwe's founding constitutional values and principles, including the rule of law and recognition of the inherent worth and dignity of each human being," ZHRC chairperson Elasto Mugwadi was quoted as saying.
"Accountability to citizens in relation to fulfilment of many of their rights was eroded as government ministers, senior civil servants and other duty bearers spent most of their time attending political rallies and negating their constitutional and statutory obligations to deliver services to citizenry," Mugwadi said.
The ZHRC report, which was tabled before parliament, said Zimbabweans were suffering due to corruption, political patronage and impunity.
Gross violation of human rights
The report also said that 2017 saw gross violations of human rights that included the right to life, food and water, education, health, shelter and human dignity.
The nationwide series of rallies which were aimed to drum up support from youths ahead of the 2018 elections kicked off in June and were expected to conclude in October last year.
Mugabe visited some of the country's 10 provinces before he was unceremoniously removed after a brief military intervention.
According to NewsDay, a large amount of money used for the rallies was drained off from state-owned companies which Mugabe admitted were struggling to make any returns.
Sources within Zanu-PF were quoted at the time as saying that the party was spending an average of $2.5m to host each rally.
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