70 WOZA activists arrested as protests at Town House intensify

By Tererai Karimakwenda & Violet Gonda
11 September 2006

The campaign to remove Sekesai Makwavarara and the illegal commission running the affairs of the capital has intensified with residents and pressure groups descending on The Town House. A total of about 70 (count at mid-day) members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), some with babies, are in custody in Harare after they attempted to carry out a sit-in demanding the removal of the illegal commission. The WOZA demo was in solidarity with Harare residents who had descended on Town House two days earlier on Saturday, demanding the same thing. Many reports credited the Combined Harare Residents Association for organising the Saturday event, but CHRA officials said on Monday the residents had taken the initiative themselves.

WOZA coordinator Jenni Williams said their activists had planned to march to Town House in Harare to carry out a planned sit-in, but police who had hidden in the bushes arrested 40 members a block away. Williams said the defiant women did not give up though. They regrouped at the main Post office where police arrested 30 more. Some of them had babies who are also currently in custody. Eyewitnesses reported five police trucks were used to ferry the arrested women to Harare Central Police Station. More than 70 are believed to be in custody. A WOZA statement said the women were demanding better service delivery, more affordable rates and the dissolution of the Commission that is currently running Harare.

The Saturday demo was described as a huge success and was coordinated by Harare residents fed up with this illegal commission. The residents surprised authorities as an estimated 2000 people turned out for the event. Precious Shumba from CHRA said they were thrilled to see that residents now realise the power of speaking out in numbers. He believes public educational forums by CHRA and other pro-democracy groups in the country are beginning to pay off.

The mass protest at Harare’s seat of power took place without any violence and with no police interference. The event also came after a week in which residents, under CHRA, dumped raw sewage and garbage at their local district offices and chanted slogans against the Harare commission. Residents want elections for a new mayor and council.

The embattled former MDC councillor who defected to ZANU-PF was appointed to lead the commission by local government minister Ignatius Chombo and has done nothing to improve conditions for residents in Harare. Instead she has become highly unpopular due to her extravagant lifestyle, while she increased rates without providing any basic services.

An even bigger protest is scheduled for this Wednesday, by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). The umbrella workers organisation is demanding better salaries and working conditions and free anti-retroviral drugs for the poor in Zimbabwe. Dubbed “Operation Tatambura” the Wednesday action has received support from The Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU) and The National Constitutional Assembly.

In London the Zimbabwe Vigil has joined forces with the Movement for Democratic Change and organised a Wednesday demonstration outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in solidarity with the countrywide protests back home.