RESIDENTS ARRESTED OVER ZESA DEMONSTRATION


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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