ZRP PROHIBITION OF WEAPONS (HARARE) – 2 SEPTEMBER 2016
IN TERMS OF SECTION 14 (1) OF PUBUC ORDER AND SECURITY ACT [CHAPTER 11:17], I CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT NEWBERT SAUNYAMA BEING THE OFFICER COMMANDING POLICE HARARE CENTRAL DISTRICT AND THEREFORE THE REGULATING AUTHORITY OF THE AREA BOUNDED BY REKAYI TANGWENA, COVENTRY ROAD, ROTTEN ROW THE NATIONAL RAILWAYS OF ZIMBABWE LINE UP TO THE MUKUVISI RIVER, ENTERPRISE ROAD, CHURCHILL ROAD, SWAN DRIVE, CORK ROAD, SANDRINGHAM DRIVE, DRUMMOND CHAPLIN STREET AND BISHOP GAUL AVENUE, BELIEVES ON REASONABLE GROUNDS THAT, THE CARRYING IN PUBLIC WHETHER OPENLY OR BY CONCEALMENT IN A PUBLIC PLACE OR PUBLIC THOROUGHFARE OR PUBLIC DISPLAY OF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING WEAPONS OR ITEMS CAPABLE OF USE AS WEAPONS:
- A) CATAPULTS, MACHETES, AXES, KNOBKERRIES, SWORDS, KNIVES OR DAGGERS,
- B) ANY TRADTTTONAL WEAPON WHATSOEVER IS LIKELY TO OCCASION PUBLIC DISORDER OR A BREACH OF THE PEACE.
HEREBY ISSUE AN ORDER PROHIBITING THE CARRYING OF SUCH WEAPONS IN THE AREA OR ANY PART THEREOF FOR A PERIOD NOT EXCEEDING THREE MONTHS, THAT IS FROM 2ND SEPTEMBER 2016 TO 2ND DECEMBER 2016.
[A soft copy of the order showing the official stamp, as published in the Herald on 2nd September is available via this link to the Veritas website.]
Gazetting not necessary Unlike the order prohibiting demonstrations, this order, although also issued under the Public Order and Security Act [POSA], was not published in the Government Gazette as its gazetting was not legally required by the section of POSA under which it was issued.
Prior consultation not needed  POSA does not specifically oblige the regulating authority to undertake prior public consultation before imposing the order
The area affected
The area within which the prohibition applies is the Harare Central Police District, as described in the preamble to the order. This is the same as the area affected by the ban on public demonstrations. The order’s description of the area is almost identical to the description in SI 101A, and it has the same faults as that description [see Bill Watch 40/2016 of 2nd September].
The period of the prohibition
The order states that the prohibition is for three months, from 2nd September to 2nd December. This is the maximum period allowed by section 14(1) of POSA.
The Enabling Section in POSA
The enabling section in POSA section 14(1) empowers the regulating authority of a police district [the officer commanding the district], if he or she believes that the carrying in public of any of the weapons listed in section 14(1) or items capable of use as weapons is likely to occasion public disorder or a breach of the peace, prohibit the carrying in public or public display of any such weapons, or items capable of use as weapons, as he shall specify. The ban must specify how long it will last and it cannot be for more than three months.
Section 14(3) of POSA makes contravention of a prohibition an offence punishable by a fine up to level five [$200.00] or six months’ imprisonment or both. Section 14(4) empowers any police officer, without a warrant, to seize and impound a weapon or item carried in contravention of a prohibition, keep it in safe custody and have a court decide how to deal with it in terms of section 39 of the Act.
Section 14(2) lays down that a prohibition will not have effect until it is published either in a newspaper circulating in the area or in notices distributed among the public or affixed on public buildings in the area concerned or by announcement of a police officer broadcast or made orally. Publication in the Government Gazette is not required. The present prohibition was published in The Herald on 2nd September.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied
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