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State authorities harass Bulawayo Agenda director
Bulawayo Agenda
March 12, 2008

Bulawayo Agenda's executive director Gorden Moyo was questioned for close to two hours by members of the Police Internal Security Intelligence (PISI) on the organization's activities at his offices on Wednesday. The operatives gained access to Moyo on the pretence that they were tracing two people he had allegedly picked up at Bulawayo Airport on Tuesday Morning. Moyo denies he was anywhere near the airport at the time.

Relating the ordeal Moyo said that the state security operatives claimed that he had picked up two individuals travelling on British and Malawian passports and wanted to know their whereabouts and what their business was. Moyo was working at his offices at the time he was claimed to be at the airport. Ironically and unknown to the operatives, the two gentlemen they were referring to, Charles Kazambara and Simeon Mawanza from Amnesty International were actually in the Bulawayo Agenda offices at the time. Moyo summoned them into the office where the two operatives were at loss for words to explain why they were tailing them the Amnesty officials.

It later emerged that the PISI operatives had only used the ruse to gain access to Moyo whom they proceeded to quiz about the activities of his organization. Bulawayo Agenda, a civil society organisation on advocacy, democracy and governance issues, has been organizing a very successful series of public meetings dubbed 'Meet the Candidates'. The meetings allow candidates from the various political parties contesting the March 29 elections the opportunity to address their electorate with the audience given the chance to ask questions. The meetings seem to have ruffled some feathers.

Moyo has indicated that his organisation is not clandestine and that he does not deserve such treatment.
"We have nothing to hide as Bulawayo Agenda because we operate openly. If it's a crime to provide a forum for the public to interact with their candidates then we are guilty. But such harassment flies in the face of assurances from the authorities they are guided by the SADC principles on the conduct of elections," he said.

Meanwhile in a related incident, immigration officials the same day put Bulawayo Agenda director Godern Moyo to task over the two Amnesty International officials who are in the city. The two, Simeon Mawanza, a Zimbabwean national and Charles Kazambara, from Malawi have been cleared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be in the country. Moyo said that immigration officials had been phoning accusing him of illegally harboring the two officials. Immigration, whose officers paid Bulawayo Agenda offices a visit looking for Moyo, is claiming that one is a British citizen while the other is a Malawian. They have even gone to the extent of visiting the residence indicated by the two as where they will be staying for the duration of their stay. Moyo says that they have promised to get back to him which they had not done by the time of publishing.

These incidents come hard on the heels of information that the Officer Commanding Gweru Urban, a Nyapfumi is making it very difficult for Gweru Agenda, a chapter of Bulawayo Agenda, to hold public meetings under the 'Meet the Candidates' series. Nyapfumi claims that Gweru Agenda are organizing 'campaign meetings' and hence they were pursuing a political agenda. He has threatened to close down the Gweru chapter on claims that it was 'not registered in the city.' Other civic organisations like the Harare based National Constitutional Assembly maintain an office in Gweru but are apparently not under threat of closure.

Visit the Bulawayo Agenda fact sheet

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