Four arrested as police ban ZCTU AIDS workshop Kadoma
By Tererai Karimakwenda
30 July, 2007

On Friday police disrupted a workshop on HIV/AIDs organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) in Kadoma and arrested four officials, claiming the meeting was “illegal.” They released three of them without charge late evening Friday, but the president of the Pulp and Paper Workers Union, John Ngirazi, spent the night in police cells and was released Saturday morning. ZCTU information officer Khumbulani Ndlovu said Ngirazi was due to appear in court Monday but police failed to make a case against him and decided they would proceed by way of summons.

The Public Order and Security Act (POSA) used by police to ban the Kadoma workshop, requires police to be notified ahead of any gathering. But police have used this legislation to ban rallies by the opposition and numerous events organised by students and pro-democracy groups, perceived to be enemies of the state. On many occasions they have used brute force to disperse the crowds and arrest participants, only to release them without charge after a brief detention. Many have claimed they were assaulted while in custody.

Among the group arrested Friday was Mildred Giyaya, the ZCTU’s HIV and AIDS co-ordinator, and a Ms. Hungwe whom Ndhlovu described as a HIV/AIDS specialist from the International Labour Organisation. Ndhlovu said the police released them after getting cold feet when they discovered Hungwe worked for the ILO. The workshop was intended to educate members of the Pulp and Paper Workers’ Union, a ZCTU affiliate. But the participants were ordered to disperse immediately as the police accused organisers of failing to seek clearance ahead of time.

Ndlovu said the ZCTU general council met in Harare on Saturday to discuss options for the way forward, including mass action which they had threatened to conduct by the end of July, if the government failed to adjust workers’ salaries in line with the hyperinflation that has gripped the country. Ndhlovu explained that the General Council had decided to hold further consultations with workers around the country as to the nature and timing of the mass protests.