The suspected CIO operative who identified himself as Mubaiya, together with two men putting on belts bearing the Zanu (PF) flag, arrived at the venue of the meeting where villagers had gathered and said the meeting was not supposed to be held.
He said although the meeting was cleared by the police he was not happy with the presents of some village heads at the meeting whom he described as being “hot headed”.
“I am sorry to inform you that the meeting cannot go on because the Chief is not present. The message was not properly communicated to the people as evidenced here by the presence of village heads who should not have come. You can arrange and organise for the same meeting on 6 October,” he told Koliwe Majama of MISA Zimbabwe who was the organiser of the meeting.
According to Mubaiwa, if the meeting was to proceed it was going to be more of a political meeting than a community radio initiative meeting.
The development shocked the chief’s wife who was among the attendees and she questioned the motive behind blocking the meeting.
Majama, Misa Zimbabwe’s Gender and Media Programmes Officer, condemned the development.
“We are very disappointed with this sad development here because our papers are in order. The meeting had been sanctioned and we do not understand why it was blocked. We are doing nothing other than educating the communities on community radio broadcasting.
“In terms of freeing the airwaves, it is going to take a long time here in Zimbabwe, because once you raise the issue of radio, especially in rural communities, all your efforts are blocked and the whole thing gets politicized. But, as MISA, this is not going to stop us from the program because we are only empowering the communities through education, “she said.
Majama said a similar incident happened recently in Gokwe when they went there under the same initiative.
Godwin Mangudya, MISA Harare chapter Secretary General, who was present at the meeting, said: “This is shocking. From the look of things, the country is going nowhere in terms of respecting freedom of association and gathering. We are here not for politics but to educate rural communities and blocking us from that means denying the marginalised information.”
Post published in: News