Members of Harare Residents Association (CHRA) beaten & detained at ZPF offices

By Violet Gonda
26 April 2007

Two members of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) were allegedly beaten and forcibly detained at the ZANU PF district offices in Highfields on Wednesday. CHRA coordinator for Ward 26 Lloyd Kumwenda and another resident only identified as Dangazela were accused of wearing T-shirts with ‘inappropriate’ messages by a group of ZANU PF thugs. Kumwenda wore a CHRA T-Shirt inscribed ‘No to ZINWA’ – one of the Association’s key messages advocating for the return of water administration to the City of Harare. Dangazela on the other hand wore a T-Shirt with a labour union logo.

According to CHRA: “They were taken to the ZANU PF offices at Machipisa and were ordered to roll in dirty water before being severely bashed underneath their feet and all over their bodies. The youths forced them to sing and chant ZANU PF songs and slogans. They passed out several times before they were released around 5pm.”

CHRA Information Officer Precious Shumba said the two were illegally detained from 2pm. He said they sustained serious injuries and have been referred to a private hospital in Harare for medical attention.

Asked if it is wise to wear T-Shirts that denounce the regime, Shumba responded by saying: “Those are legitimate and legally registered organisations operating within the confines of the Zimbabwean statutes. We are definitely shocked that ZANU PF has sunk so low to be concerned with simple messages with legitimate concerns.”

The active pressure group has in the past embarked on campaigns to remove the illegal Sekesai Makwavarara led Harare Commission. Despite five separate High Court rulings stating the Commission was illegal, Makwavarara and seven other Commissioners handpicked by Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo continue to work with no mandate to run the affairs of the city.

In the few years that the Commission has been running the affairs of the city, the Capital has merely become a shadow of its former self. In spite of poor service delivery including uncollected refuse and crippling water cuts, residents are still being forced to pay extremely high rates.

CHRA said residents are being sent letters of demand from the City Council debt collectors, threatening to seize peoples’ properties if they do not pay up their outstanding rates within a given time. But the Association is urging the public to continue to boycott the rates until the authorities hold legitimate elections. Residents in Harare’s northern suburbs are said to have heeded the boycott calls and have been urged to take their letters from the debt collectors to the CHRA offices or to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) for immediate litigation.

Shumba urged residents to intensify the boycott campaign. He said: “The High Court has declared that the City of Harare is illegal so we have the right of law on our side.”

Instead of tackling the crisis in country the authorities have sought to attack those aggrieved. At least 12 CHRA members have so far been victims of state-sanctioned brutality since 11 March when armed police suppressed a prayer meeting at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfields.