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afrol News, 30 January - Harare citizens taking on an open invitation to hear Mayor Eng. Elias Mudzuri, were yesterday met by anti-riot police. Residents, diplomats, councillors and others were dispersed by teargas and Councillor Michael Laban was arrested. Police in Zimbabwe cordoned of the Harare Town House, venue for a meeting that had been called by the city's mayor who sought to brief residents about what he is doing to alleviate the problems that they face as residents. Mayor Mudzuri is a prominent member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition party. As the crowd of residents swelled around the venue, the police however insisted that they would not allow any one into the open space where the Mayor was to address them. They used batons and them fired tear gas at the residents and "indiscriminately assaulted all the people including those who were simply passing by," according to the MDC. Within a few minutes members of the Zimbabwe National Army also joined the fray, dispersing anyone who was within sight of Town House. The meeting was cleared by in accordance with the disputed Public Order and Security Act, adopted last year. Dissention and frustration articulated by a Harare councillor, Michael Laban was dealt with by summarily arresting him. Police "of all shapes and sizes took to this task with inordinate application," according to the civil rights group Zvakwana-Sokwanele ("enough is enough"), which documented the assault on Mr Laban.
- One can only speculate as to the government's reasons for persistently interfering with the Mayor's initiatives to meet and inform the residents who elected him to his position, the group said. "It is clear that the government intends to use its propaganda mouthpiece, 'The Herald' and its monopoly stranglehold of the broadcast media to put words in his mouth," Zvakwana-Sokwanele assumes. Documentation by the Zvakwana-Sokwanele group showed that police troops had been prepared to get tough if teargas and batons had not been enough to disperse the crowd. A photo taken by the group shows the police transporting a truckload of Kalashikov machine guns (AKs). Police were also seeking to arrest Mayor Mudzuri, cordoning his office. At that moment, he told MDC colleagues on the phone: "The police do not have a right to stop my meetings with the residents, I do not have to seek police permission to meet the people in my office." The mayor also said it was "unacceptable that they want to deny me permission to meet the people on council property when they have lifted no finger to remove the ZANU-PF militias that have set up bases in the council property in Kwadzana 5". ZANU-PF is Zimbabwe's ruling party. According to MDC spokesman Paul T. Nyathi, militias of the ruling party "have set up torture bases in the suburb of Kuwadzana where there is an upcoming parliamentary by-election." Mayor, Elias Mudzuri, was arrested by Zimbabwean police earlier this month for holding a political rally "without permission". He was however released without any charges the next day. According to media reports, the Mugabe government is currently working on plans to reorganise the administration of the country's two big cities, Harare and Bulawayo, which both are run by MDC mayors. According to the government plan, centrally appointed governors will be placed in both Harare and Bulawayo, with unclear powers.
Sources:
Based on MDC, Zvakwana-Sokwanele and afrol archives
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