Press Release
Date: 8 April 2013
Contact:
Emmanuel Ndlovu
Acting Coordinator
Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
RESIDENTS ARRESTED OVER ZESA DEMONSTRATION
ABOUT
twenty-five Bulawayo residents were early this morning (8 April 2013) arrested while
staging a demonstration against the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA) which they accused of unfairly recruiting from outside Bulawayo when
there are many unemployed youths in the city. The residents, consisting of
members of the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) ward 26
committee and members of the Mthwakazi Youth Leaders Resolution were briefly
questioned at Donnington Police Station before being moved to Bulawayo Central Police
Station where they were still being held at close of business today.
Indications are that they may appear in court tomorrow (Tuesday 9 April 2013). While
it is not clear what they were being charged with, it could possibly be demonstrating
without notifying the police, which is mandatory under the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA) which is often cited as draconian. The police have in
recent months been clamping down on freedom of assembly and freedom of
expression, with prominent civil society figures and politicians being
arrested. Critics have linked the clampdown to the impending elections as the
state seeks to silence dissenting voices in the run-off to the plebiscite.
The
residents said they staged the demonstration as they were peeved after they got
wind of information that ZESA was in a massive recruitment drive for an
undisclosed project covering sections of Bulawayo and Matabeleland North. They
revealed that scores of people from outside Bulawayo – numbering between 300 and
500 – had been hired by the parastatal and had been camping in Emganwini suburb
in Bulawayo. They argued that this was an example of marginalization of the
people of Bulawayo as under normal circumstances people from the city, and
those from the other areas where the project would be active should have
received first preference for the jobs.
“We decided
to stage a demonstration after realizing that our people were being
shortchanged by the practices of ZESA,” said Mandula Ncube the BPRA ward 26
chairperson, who is part of the group that was arrested. Added Ncube: “Most of
the youth in our community are unemployed and there is a high level of crime in
the area due to this. Yet these people bring labour from far away as if there
are no capable people here. This was our way of showing our dissatisfaction and
anger with ZESA’s corruption and nepotism.”
Residents of
Bulawayo and Matabeleland at large have previously bemoaned high levels of corruption
and nepotism in hiring practices by public entities, most of which are
headquartered in Harare. It has been argued that the people of Bulawayo and
other peripheral regions were being systematically excluded from employment
opportunities. BPRA has previously called for adherence to the principle of subsidiarity
in hiring. The principle of subsidiarity states that issues should be dealt
with at the lowest possible level and seek to benefit people at that level. The
association has also been a strong advocate of devolution of power, under which
hiring would not be centralized but be done at the local level to ensure that
locals get employment opportunities. BPRA thus calls upon ZESA to desist from
corruption and nepotism when hiring workers, and to give the local people in
whichever area they are operating first preference when hiring.
BPRA is also
concerned that the country continues to deny citizens freedoms of assembly and
expression using draconian legislation. The association thus condemns the
arrest of the residents who were engaged in a peaceful demonstration necessitated
by genuine concerns.
Signed
.........................................................
Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu
Acting Coordinator
Bulawayo Progressive
Residents Association (BPRA)
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