Police ban Crisis meeting to allow war vet rally

By Tererai Karimakwenda
15 October, 2007

The Crisis Coalition has reported that police in the Guruve area of Mashonaland Central province have at the last minute banned an outreach meeting scheduled for Wednesday, in order to facilitate war veterans who are marching to support Mugabe on the same day. Pedzisai Ruhanya, a programmes manager with the Coalition, said police had sanctioned their meeting in accordance with the Public Order and Security Act. He complained that the war veterans do not even apply for permission for their events.

Titled “Dialogue and Rural Outreach”, the Crisis meeting is part of a series designed to gauge rural opinions on several issues, including the harmonized elections due next year, the Mbeki-mediated talks between the MDC and ZANU PF and the political environment in the country.

According to the law, the war veterans were required to notify the police ahead of their meeting. Ruhanya said: “Applications only apply to civil groups, the opposition and those critical of the regime.” He described it as selective application of the law, in favour of Zanu PF.

A statement by the Coalition said in part: “The ban is an affront to the current negotiations between ZANU PF and the MDC where the opposition and civil society groups are demanding the restoration of Zimbabweans’ civil and political liberties as one of the ways of creating a democratic society.”