Zimbabwe Inclusive Government Watch : Issue 7

Sokwanele Article: August 4th, 2009

The waves of democratic turmoil washed over from June to July with scores of breaches of the GPA being recorded, the majority of which fell into the following categories:

• wanton politically motivated violence, or violence driven by politicians,
• harassment, and deprivation of freedom, of individuals through contrived arrests on spurious charges,
• widespread corruption involving senior public and uniformed figures,
• the deprivation of the right to Freedom of Expression, and the abuse thereof,
• violent, unconstitutional, invasions and seizures of property and farms, and
• deliberate attempts to derail the Constitution-making process.

The month began with a group of journalists returning to court in an effort to make former High Court rulings ‘legally binding’ – calling attention to ZANU PF breaches of GPA articles covering both the rule of law and freedom of expression. The journalists had been barred from covering the COMESA summit on the grounds that they were not accredited by the Media and Information Commission (MIC). This was despite a High Court ruling in June that made it clear that the MIC was defunct, and that journalists were not required to register with it.

Read More...

http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/zigwatch_issue7_040709.html