Agrippa Mukando was walking near Robert Mugabe's official residence on Monday when soldiers guarding the grounds leapt on the 63-year-old gardener and accused him of being an opposition supporter. They beat him as they beat several others that day.  In many African countries the all-too-common victims of assaults by soldiers consider themselves lucky to escape with their lives. They would laugh off any suggestion that they go to the police; that would just invite more trouble. But in a telling act of faith in what remains of the rule of law in Zimbabwe, Mr Mukando headed for Harare central police station and laid charges. Other victims did the same.  The complaints are not likely to come to anything; the police are now too deeply compromised by their failure to stop the violence unleashed by Mr Mugabe's "war veterans" and other thugs.  In much of Africa, the rule of law long ago ceased to be more than a meaningless phrase. Due process was sacrificed to the arbitrary decisions of the powerful. Zimbabwe stands on the edge of that abyss.  As Mr Mukando demonstrated, some Zimbabweans still have faith in the judicial process, although the courts are more trusted than the police, but it is being eroded by the week.  The Harare township of Chitungwiza is living in terror of armed thugs unleashed by the government. Sometimes it is the army on the rampage, sometimes it is men too young to have fought Ian Smith's regime but who still call themselves veterans. Their tactics are not always the same but their intent is.  The gangs burst into bars and night clubs, forcing revellers to lie on the floor. Anyone giving a hint of supporting the opposition is singled out for a severe beating. The rest are forced to sing songs in praise of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the liberation war.  Charity Gwanzura did not even have to leave her home to become a target.  "I was sitting in my house and I looked up and there was a soldier standing there," she said. "I didn't understand at first. I thought maybe he was looking for someone or wanted some water. I was about to speak when he smashed his foot down on my table. I couldn't run because he was between me and the door, and then he started hitting me. He never said a word."  It did not take long for the soldier to get bored with beating Mrs Gwanzura. All along the street, doors were kicked in and furniture smashed. When the sound of breaking wood stopped, the screams began. Men were hauled into the streets and forced to pledge support to Robert Mugabe and to sing songs praising him. Then the army left as fast as it arrived.  The army and war veterans are intent on breaking the opposition's spirit. It is working to some extent. Many are disillusioned at the opposition's apparent powerlessness and inactivity. Its MPs make a lot of noise in parliament, Chitungwiza's residents say, but that does not stop the terror.  Mrs Gwanzura says the attacks are also having another effect. "I'll tell you what has changed. A year ago you could have been a Mugabe supporter living in this street and no one would have touched you. They would have said you are a fool or asked how much Mugabe is paying you, but you would have been safe. That is not true now. People are angry.  "They tried to get the police to protect us but now they say the police won't help. It has been made a crime to read a newspaper.  "They say the law can burn in hell with Mugabe, we are going to look after our own interests. They will make criminals of all of us. They have unleashed something."  The "war veterans" in particular are above the law. One of their more notorious leaders, Joseph Chinotimba, is on bail for the attempted murder of a neighbour he is alleged to have shot because she is an opposition supporter. It is unlikely he will ever be brought to trial, but yesterday he turned up at the supreme court anyway with a handful of thugs to threaten Zimbabwe's white chief justice, Anthony Gubbay.  The trampling of the law by the government has been widespread and systematic. White farmers and black workers are murdered with impunity. The killers' identities' are frequently known.  Similarly, the killers of opposition activists are free from the threat of arrest. Reporters have been illegally detained and tortured.  If anyone is in any doubt about the government's view of this they only have to listen to Mr Mugabe's ministers. The information minister, Jonathan Moyo, told new police officers this week that maintaining the "rule of law" does not mean obeying the courts but rather "upholding the gains of the liberation struggle".  Any court judgments which "might result in moving away from Zimbabwe, back to Rhodesia, cannot be considered the rule of law", he said. He means court rulings that have declared the land seizure programme illegal.  Questioned about the use of repressive colonial-era security laws to detain opponents, the defence minister, Moven Mahachi, said that if the internal security act was used to convict innocent blacks under Ian Smith then there was no reason why the present government cannot do the same.  And for all the independ ence of many judges, the courts are increasingly used not only as political weapons but to settle scores.  Last week a bus driver was jailed for three years after for attempting to murder Mr Chinotimba. The inappropriately named Luckmore Chakanyuka was set upon by "war veterans" at a roadblock after an argument about driving standards. In his terror, Chakanyuka jerked his bus forward. He was promptly arrested for trying to "kill" Mr Chintimba.  The court dispatched the bus driver to prison. Mr Chinotimba still walks free. Classification Language: ENGLISH Subject: RULE OF LAW (90%); POLICE FORCES (78%); DUE PROCESS (75%) Company: EUROPEAN UNION (84%); EUROPEAN UNION (84%) Organization: EUROPEAN UNION (84%); EUROPEAN UNION (84%); EUROPEAN UNION (84%); EUROPEAN UNION (84%) Industry: NIGHTCLUBS (63%) Person: ROBERT MUGABE (92%) Geographic: HARARE, ZIMBABWE (90%); ZIMBABWE (93%); AFRICA (73%)