An election alert from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights announced the latest decision by the police.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police has reversed its ban of an MDC-T final election campaign rally set for Monday July 29 2013 and imposed a stringent code of conduct and conditions to be adhered to by the conveners and party supporters,” the statement said.
ZLHR said the decision to ban the rally was set to become the latest in a long line of spats between the partners in the outgoing Government of National Unity.
“In an incident which stoked up tensions between President Robert Mugabe and his long-time rival turned coalition government partner Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, ahead of Wednesday’s harmonised elections, the ZRP through Chief Superintendent Titus Chagwedera, the Officer Commanding Harare Central District on Friday 26 July 2013 turned down the MDC-T’s notification to hold its final election campaign rally near Rainbow Towers in Harare on the grounds that the law enforcement agency did not have enough police personnel to cover the rally after deploying them to polling stations around the country to secure some election material,” the statement said.
According to ZLHR, the ZRP claimed it feared that the MDC-T rally could “culminate in political violence.”
Chagwedera reversed the ban on Saturday under unclear circumstances and sanctioned the MDC-T to proceed under severe conditions.
The police said no party supporters from outside Harare would be allowed to attend the rally and no toyi-toying should be done before, during and after the rally.
Even though Chagwedera had said the police did not have manpower he said they would keep an eye on the conduct of the MDC-T supporters during the rally. He warned that all sections of the security forces would “monitor the situation”.
Meanwhile, the MDC-T candidate for Mutare West, Shuwa Mudiwa, was on Saturday released on $30 bail by magistrate Noah Gwatidzo for allegedly holding an unsanctioned rally.
He was charged with contravening Section 25 (1) (b) of the Public Order and Security Act after he allegedly convened the meeting at Mashukashuka Business Centre, Marange, in Manicaland.
The meeting was held on Friday July 26. He was represented by Chris Ndlovu of Gonese Ndlovu Legal Practitioners and Blessing Nyamaropa of ZLHR.
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