Police Ban CCC Demonstration Planned For Bulawayo On 23 October
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has banned a planned protest march by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) which had been scheduled to take place in Bulawayo on Monday.
The Nelson Chamisa-led party said the demonstration was called to protest “an unfair election and the failure to respect the people’s votes through illegal recalls of elected representatives.”
CCC intended to hold a “peaceful demonstration” to petition the Minister of State and Devolution for Bulawayo Province at Mhlahlandlela Government Complex on 23 October from 10 AM to 4 PM.
Under the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPO), Organisers of public gatherings are required to notify the police and the police can either give them the green light to continue or prohibit the planned gathering.
In a letter to conveners of the protest, dated 18 October 2023, Chief Superintendent Vusumuzi Nkomo confirmed receiving the CCC’s notification on 16 October but said it (the notification), did not comply with certain provisions of the MOPO Act.
Chief Superintendent Nkomo, however, did not explain which provisions the notification did not meet.
In response to the banning of the planned protest, CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi wrote on X:
We want to demonstrate our commitment to the law and we will exhaust every channel permissible in a democratic society.
When all has failed, we will then come to you- The Citizens- to say Citizens, we have done everything permissible in a democratic society, it’s OVER to you now, to take matters into your own hands and liberate your country.
We will no longer be responsible or answerable from then on. This country will be freed, order, sanity and normality will be restored soon.
Since its formation in early 2022, the CCC claims over 100 of its meetings, including campaign rallies, have been banned by the police.
More: Pindula News
