They threatened to arrest the workers if they did not reveal the whereabouts of the leadership, before asking to see their registration certificate, claiming they were an NGO.
It was only after the arrival of the NCA chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku, and the spokesperson Madock Chivasa that the gun-totting policemen calmed down. They said they had been given a directive to have the offices closed, only after the chairperson explained that the NCA was not a non-governmental organization, the policemen left.
The raid comes in the wake of attacks on the NCA offices in Masvingo on June 6 when several window panes and a door were shattered by unknown assailants. The NCA views these as unprecedented attacks on pro-democracy groups that Zanu (PF) and the military junta perceive as having orchestrated that party’s historic loss to the MDC in the March 29 elections. The state has forced NGO’s, and other civic groups to stop.
The NCA would like to categorically state that it will not be intimidated by such cowardly acts and as such will not stop its work. The NCA is not a non-governmental organization and as such will not capitulate to threats by the military junta.
Post published in: News