BY MXOLISI NCUBE
BULAWAYO
Baton-wielding police officers on Saturday turned part of the Bulawayo city centre into a mini-battlefield as they fought running battles with members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), who were holding a peaceful demonstration to commemorate International Women’s Day.
The police officers, who savagely attacked WOZA member Eva Tanyanyiwa and arrested her together with the organisation’s co-leaders, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, quickly sealed off the intersection of 9th Avenue and Jason Moyo Street, turning it into a mini-war zone, as they hit at anything that moved in the vicinity.
In the commotion which unfolded before this reporter’s eyes, Tanyanyiwa fell to the ground at the mercy of a crowd of startled women and children, who stampeded over her as they scurried for cover from the police, who seemed determined to spill blood.
As the stampede cleared, police lunged at her with their batons all over the body as she struggled to get to her feet, before she was arrested.
When Williams and Mahlangu tried to stop the lawmen’s brutal attacks on Tanyanyiwa, they were both arrested and driven to Bulawayo Central police station.
he policemen also broke up a queue of a nearby Kingdom Bank’s clients, who were waiting to be served at the bank, as they began hitting at anything that moved.
According to a statement posted by WOZA, the aim of the march was to exhort Zimbabweans to stand up for their children during the country’s current economic crisis and to encourage people to vote in the country’s forthcoming elections.
The demonstrators also distributed flyers urging people to inform themselves of the policies and track records of the candidates running in their areas, so as to choose leaders who would deliver a socially just future, regardless of their political affiliation.
The group also carried balloons and banners that carried the message – “Stand Up for Your Child”.
Some pamphlets being distributed read in part, “STAND UP FOR YOUR CHILD. The March election is a chance to choose leaders that will help us build a better future for our children…. We should not be confused by any more empty promises. We know what is best for our families – affordable food, a good education for your children and a safe environment…. The current situation is not free or fair, but we can protest oppression by voting in large numbers. Make your choice, cast your vote, register your protest.”
As the procession neared its dispersing point, the Chronicle offices, a police officer is said to have approached Williams and asked her to take the marchers off the road, to which Williams indicated she would do so at the next intersection, Jason Moyo Street.
Before they could reach there, a loud noise that could have been a shot or tear gas was heard, alarming the peaceful activists, before members of the Police Reaction Group (PRG) violently set upon the demonstrators, severely beating two young activists holding the rear banner.
The lawmen then moved through the procession beating people as they fled. The women human rights defenders regrouped and began a second protest before being violently dispersed for the second time. Police then adopted the strategy of moving amongst groups and saying out the ‘woza moya’ (come holy spirit) slogan and assaulting anyone who sang out the reply ‘woza’!
A member from Pumula, Eva Tanyanyiwa, was beaten to the ground by two police officers and lay prostrate at the mercy of other members of the public who were also fleeing the police, before being dragged up and pulled towards a nearby Mazda pick-up truck bearing police colours, where she fainted.
When Jenni Williams went to implore the officer to leave the seriously injured woman alone, they arrested her as well. Mahlangu was arrested within minutes of the two.
The trio were driven to Bulawayo Central Police Station, allegedly being threatened by police officers on the way. The three women were, however, released after half an hour, after their details had been noted down.
“Eva (Tanyanyiwa) has serious bruising on her upper arm and lower body. Another woman had to have stitches to her neck as she was pushed by a police officer into a stationary vehicle whilst another was pushed into a pole by a police officer, receiving a deep cut across her forehead. Other injuries included a woman who developed a haematoma just above her kidneys as a result of being beaten and many others with deep tissue bruising from being beaten with baton sticks,” read a WOZA statement released within hours of the assaults by the police.
Police national spokesman, Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, refused to comment on the matter, telling our reporter that he only dealt with journalists that were “properly accredited.
Police have always met WOZA protests with violence. Last year, they were accused of having caused the death of Maria Moyo, one of the organisation’s late activists, whom the lawmen allegedly arrested and tortured in the still of a cold night while knowing that she was suffering from pneumonia.
Post published in: News