Patricia Ndlovu, aged 53, and Georgina Muzaza, aged 84, were both
released from custody on Wednesday after a night in police cells, when
the case against them was dismissed.
The pair was hauled into custody while trying to engage with the
headmistress of Mpumelelo Primary in Mpopoma. WOZA members had gathered
outside the school, as part of the group's ongoing engagement with
schools over unreasonable demands on parents'. The women that were
eventually arrested both have grandchildren at the school and were
acting as WOZA representatives in trying to meet the headmistress. But
while waiting for the meeting, the headmistress called the police who
arrested both grandmothers and detained them for two hours at a local
police station.
The women were eventually taken to Bulawayo Central Police Station
where they were charged under Section 37 of the Criminal Law Act, and
were accused of participating in a gathering with intent to promote
public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry. The women were
forced to stay overnight in police cells, despite efforts by their
defence lawyer to get them released into his custody because of their
age.
WOZA said the arrest and detention of the two women, merely for wanting
to discuss their concerns as parents with the headmistress of the
school, is further evidence that very little has changed on the ground
for ordinary Zimbabweans.
SWRadio Africa
Post published in: Politics