SW Radio Africa (London)
Violet Gonda
3 December 2008
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said about 70 protesters, including civic and labour leaders, were arrested countrywide on Wednesday as repressive tactics by the Mugabe regime escalated. Several protesters were severely assaulted by the increasingly militant police.
The labour union had called for peaceful protests against the Reserve Bank's capping of withdrawal limits, and called on the general public to march to their banks on Wednesday to demand their money.
But as usual riot police descended on the few protesters who were brave enough to come out. Journalists say in Gweru there were more police officers than protesters.
At the time of broadcast, the ZCTU said 15 people who were arrested in Harare had been released without charge, including ZCTU Secretary General Wellington Chibebe. In Kariba five people arrested are still in police custody. Three of the four arrested in Karoi have been released and asked to return to the police station tomorrow. One person, Cherechedzai Rubiwa is still in custody.
35 people arrested in Gweru are still in custody after police refused to release them. The police said they will deal with the matter tomorrow.
Seven people arrested in Bulawayo are still in custody with lawyers working to have then released. In Zvishavane six demonstrators are still being held at a local police station. The lawyer is still negotiating with the police.
The ZCTU leadership are set to meet the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono on Thursday morning, to discuss the issue of cash withdrawal limit.
At least 10 women leaders were also assaulted when police violently dispersed the peaceful protesters. Those included Gertrude Hambira the General Secretary of the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers' Union, Angeline Chitambo the President of the Zimbabwe Energy Workers' Union and Mirriam Katumba the Vice Chair Women's Advisory Council.
An SABC correspondent, John Nyashanu was briefly detained when he was covering the ZCTU protest.
The riot police also clamped down hard on another demonstration by doctors and nurses who were marching against the worsening cholera epidemic and their appalling work conditions.
In Bulawayo, Enock Paradzayi, a Coordinator with PTUZ, was picked up by Central Intelligence Operatives and is reportedly being held at the CIO building - Magnet House on the 4th Floor in Bulawayo.
Meanwhile, Jestina Mukoko, a former ZBC television personality and director of the human rights group the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), was abducted from her house at 5 am Wednesday. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said 15 unidentified men abducted her from her Norton home, while she was still wearing her nightdress.
The ZPP is an institution that has been monitoring and recording human rights abuses perpetrated around the country.
The clampdown on rights defenders came after former Defence Minister Sidney Sekeramayi, flanked by two top army officials, made a rare appearance on state television, warning the ZCTU against holding any demonstrations.
A severe cholera epidemic, anthrax, starvation and Mugabe's determination to hold on to power, have become a lethal combination for an already exhausted population. A dejected protester said: "We are expected to go to work but at the end of the month we cannot even access our hard earned salaries from the banks. We are going to work to earn nothing. I walk to work everyday hoping that at the end of the month I can provide for my family but what do you do when even the backs cannot give you your money?"
Earlier in the week the Reserve Bank Governor increased the withdrawal limit from Z$500 000 to Z$100 million, starting Thursday. But in Zimbabwe today this means nothing to the majority of workers who earn much less than the new Z$100 million limit, and it means absolutely nothing to the estimated 90 percent who are unemployed.
While Zimbabwe's crisis rapidly worsens, questions are being asked about the implementation of the power-sharing deal between ZANU PF and the two MDCs. How can there ever be any power sharing, given the fact that ZANU PF continues to brutalise and arrest all voices of dissent, including abducting and killing MDC members? To date 14 MDC activists and a two year old baby are still missing - a month after they disappeared and another two members, including the party's director of security, were abducted from their homes last week.
The Tsvangirai MDC issued a blistering statement on Wednesday denouncing the crackdown on the peaceful protesters by the Mugabe regime. The party said: "Zanu PF remains the undemocratic party of terror and thuggery. It remains the epicenter of repression of the people's basic rights and freedoms. It remains the haven and sanatorium of an unstinting instinct that believes that the solution to all problems lies in violence and repression. Zanu PF's actions on the ground undermine their commitment on paper."
With statements like this, you have to wonder why the MDC is continuing to pursue the power sharing agreement, when Zanu PF is clearly negotiating in bad faith.
Politicians have not even called for the urgent reconvening of parliament to attempt to deal with the many crises facing Zimbabwe. Parliament was forced to close down last month because there was no water in the building.
If politicians believe they can run a country, surely they can organize for a water bowser, so that the business of governance can take place?
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