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Youth Forum petitions Chipinge Town Council over deepening water crisis
Zimbabwe Youth Forum (ZYF)
October 08, 2007

The Youth Forum held a Public Meeting attended by more than sixty young men and women in Gaza Township here in Chipinge, who resolved among other issues to petition Chipinge Town Council and ZINWA over the deepening water crisis that has gnawed Chipinge residents for more than a year now. Youths said they would petition the local authorities to explain what they are doing about the non-availability of water, a situation which they described as catastrophic. This petition is an initiation of a protracted engagement with the local authorities that would culminate into a series of protests should the local authorities decide not to respond.

Meanwhile, systematic state repression continues unabated in Chipinge. Residents of Chipinge recently were left dumbfounded when one of the outspoken and vibrant youth activist was left for dead allegedly by the nefarious CIO after he appeared on Studio 7 castigating Robert Mugabe's misrule. Stanley Mabuyaye (23) was picked in the wee hours of the night in a coordinated combat raid at his Gaza home by suspected notorious CIO agents who detained him for more than five days in squalid police cells without food or access to legal representation. While in custody, Stanley complains of massive random beatings and coercive interrogations which left him with lacerations all over the body and up to now he is still struggling to walk properly.

Another youth activist and MDC Youth Coordinator for Chipinge was recently left in the open by his landlord in Gaza township after the landlord discovered that he was affiliated to the opposition party. This discovery followed constant visits by the police who wanted to interrogate him over a demonstration that the youth were planning to express their discontentment over the deepening water crisis in Chipinge.

In a closely related development, Pardon Maguta the MDC Youth Coordinator for Chimanimani District has been staying in a cabin for the past year after police in Chimanimani ordered his landlord to evict him. This followed a notorious campaign by police in Chimanimani which targeted MDC supporters in particular and those opposed to the Mugabe regime in general.

Masvingo, the National Constitutional Assembly Spokesperson and Youth Forum Board Chairperson Madock Chivasa and Wellington Zindove the Youth Forum Projects Coordinator were released from illegal police detention on $ZW10 000 000.00 bail after a brief appearance in court in Masvingo recently. The duo is expected back in court on 22nd October 2007 facing charges of what police termed criminal nuisance. These charges are arising following a public meeting which the two organized and addressed in Masvingo on 27th September.

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