Police raid CHRA offices in search of leadership

By Tererai Karimakwenda
22 March, 2007

On Thursday morning 8 uniformed and 6 plain clothed police officers are reported to have raided the offices of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) in Harare. Staff members who were present said they were threatened by the police who came looking for CHRA’s top leaders in connection with a demonstration they conducted Wednesday on the steps of City Hall. The group was protesting the illegal commission still running the capital in defiance of 4 court rulings and against the Urban Councils Act. They are demanding the removal of the Commission, headed by chairperson Sekesai Makwavarara, and fresh elections for a mayor and council.

CHRA chairman Mike Davies, who was not at the offices when the police came, said: “As we have exhausted all other ways of trying to get rid of Makwavarara, we are at a loss to know what to do except engage in civil disobedience.” Davies urged the police to look at the illegality of the Commission which, he said, caused their so-called illegal demo.

A statement released by CHRA said in part: “The officers threatened employees stationed at the CHRA office with imprisonment if they failed to lead them to their leadership. However, the two employees maintained that they could not disclose the leadership’s residential addresses without their consent. The police officers threatened to come back later at an unspecified date.”