Harare – Zimbabwe’s premier spy agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) has recruited hundreds of youthful street vendors and illegal street dealers as informers, a report revealed.

Sources within the spy agency said hundreds of street vendors, particularly airtime vendors and others have been recruited to monitor the activities of Movement for Democratic Change Officials and supporters, as well as diplomats and members of  civil society including trade unionists.

The source said the youths have received Zanu PF ideological training and were now considered as a reserve militia.

The move is a caricature of former Romanian Communist dictator Nicolai Ceausescu who employed the tactics of husband and wife spying on each other. In the end kicthen utensils where bugged with eavesdroping gadgets. In 1980, after independence, Robert Mugabe's intelligence officers and military pilots were trained in Romania.

“They have  been deployed along  streets, at shopping malls and outside hotels and restaurants where they will be able to observe the activities of unsuspecting  targeted individuals,” he said.

The CIO source said most of the recruited youths have been issued with police special constabulary identity cards which empowers them to make arrests in the event of something happening.

A cellphone airtime vendor operating in Harare City Centre confirmed to Zimdiaspora that he was recruited by the CIO as an informer.

He said he was tasked with informing  authorities whenever demonstrations are being held by members of civil society and
political parties other than Zanu PF.

“We were told to infiltrate all demonstrations involving MDC and civil society members,” said the Vendor. “Whenever possible, we are expected to hijack such demonstrations by causing violence in order to discredit the demonstrators.”

An illegal foreign exchange dealer at Harare’s Roadport who now offers cross-rates for the United States dollar  and  South African Rand following last year’s demise of the Zimdollar said he was forced to become an informer after he was threatened with arrest.

“I was arrested together with my colleagues for illegal foreign currency dealings and  taken to CIO’s provincial offices at Harare Central Police Station. They gave us  an option of going to jail or becoming informers. We chose to become informers because they told us that if we refuse,  we will not be able to operate in any city or town in the country,” he said.

The vendors were part of Zanu PF youths who this week marched in Harare against Western imposed sanctions and the so called pirate radio stations.

The marchers threatened unspecified action against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai if the sanctions are not removed immediately. MDC has already called on the police to arrest the Zanu PF youths for threatening the life of Tsvangirai and the office of the Prime Minister.

The youths recruited as informers by the  CIO said they have been promised jobs in the police force, army, CIO and other government departments.

Zimbabwe’s CIO and the military have been accused of gross human rights abuses and in the run up to the June 2008 Presidential run-off, led a Zanu PF terror campaign which saw hundreds of opposition supporters and officials murdered, tortured and assaulted.

Despite the formation of a Government of National Unity between Zanu PF and the MDC which won the March 29, 2008 harmonised elections,  the military and the intelligence have remained partisan, largely refusing to recognise the Global Political Agreement. (ZimDiaspora)