nesses demanding
affordable food on the shelves and an end to selling
to cronies and the uniformed forces out the back door.
The protestors also delivered an open letter to
business owners and the ministers of Industry and
Commerce and Home Affairs to demand meaningful
economic reforms, rather than the unthinking slashing
of prices. There have been no reports of arrests to
date from any of the protests.
Men of Zimbabwe Arise (MOZA) then completed a morning
of protest by marching for four blocks through central
Bulawayo to TM Hypermarket with the same demands. This
was MOZA’s first demonstration on their own.
Plain-clothed police officers were seen collecting up
the open letter after the protest and presumably it
will be delivered through them to the respective
ministers.
Activists targeted shops in Nkulumane 5, Mpopoma,
Matshobana, Mabutweni, Njube, Nkulumane 12,
Tshabalala, Pumula Old and North and Magwegwe. In the
city centre MOZA targeted OK Bazaars and TM
Hypermarket.
The open letter carried by the protestors outlined
several demands to both businesses and government,
including the request that government and the
manufacturing sector should negotiate in good faith to
find ways to produce more affordable food without
compromising the living wage of workers; that the
Price Control Task Force be reshuffled and be selected
in a transparent manner and that government stop
harassing shop owners and allow them to stock and
trade freely and honestly at the price set. A copy of
the open letter in full can be found by visiting
www.wozazimbabwe.org.
Ends
30th July 2007
For more information, please contact +263 912 898
110/2, +263 912 300 456 , +263 912 362 668 or MOZA on
+263 11 213 885 . Email info@wozazimbabwe.org or visit
info@wozazimbabwe.org