Edmund Zimba has a deep scar on the side of his face from a hatchet wound inflicted by a supporter of Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. Until last weekend the scar, legacy of a previous crackdown by Zanu-PF, dominated the young opposition activist’s face.

But on Saturday night it was eclipsed by an even more hideous injury. His lower jaw is now a mishmash of stitches and dried blood after a Zanu-PF supporter attacked him with a bottle and left him for dead.