The chief executive officer of Habakkuk Trust, Dumisani Nkomo, and the senior programmes officer Khumbulani Maphosa were recently summoned by police in Plumtree for allegedly inciting villagers and politicizing a policy dialogue meeting in Mangwe area. They were accompanied to the police station by Geoffrey Nyoni of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
On Wednesday last week police in Bulawayo raided the offices of National Youth Development Trust. The raid came hard on the heels of the arrest of two youths from the organization for allegedly possessing voter registration receipts. Police searched for voter registration certificates or material which “negatively affected the state”. They confiscated the organization’s workshop schedule and transport reimbursement details.
On Valentine’s Day 193 members of Woza were arrested in Bulawayo and Harare and about 50 members were beaten with baton sticks by riot police.
ZimRights offices in Harare, Chinhoyi, Gwanda and Bulawayo have all been raided in recent weeks and several people have been arrested over charges linked to voter registration. The National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations has blasted the police for cracking down on human rights defenders, saying the move is meant to stifle their operations ahead of the referendum and elections.
Nango national chairperson Effie Ncube said police were using the provisions of the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) to bar civic organizations from conducting voter education campaigns and explain the constitution to the public.
“The environment in which civil society organizations are operating is not good at all. Under laws like POSA, it is virtually impossible to do anything on the ground,” said Ncube in an interview with The Zimbabwean.
“Over the last few days, we have witnessed a dangerous trend where our members have been persecuted for carrying out voter registration campaigns. Every citizen has a right to voter registration information. Why are police preventing the campaigns?” he added.
Post published in: News