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Police raid NCA head office
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
June 12, 2008

Police officers from Harare Central's Police Internal Security Intelligence (PISI) Unit raided the headquarters of the NCA this morning, ostensibly looking for the leaders of the organization. They threatened to arrest the workers at the offices if they did not reveal the whereabouts and contacts of the leadership of the organization before asking to see the registration certificate of the organization which they claimed is an NGO.

The policeman further demanded to have a meeting with the leadership of the organization which prompted the workers to concede to the demands. It was only after the arrival of the NCA chairperson Dr. Lovemore Madhuku and the spokesperson Madock Chivasa that the gun-totting policemen calmed down. They then held a meeting with the two where they were asking for the registration certificates of the organization, claiming that they had been sent by their superior whom they said is the Member-in-Charge at Harare Central Police Station. They said they had been given a directive to have the offices closed as was being done to other non-governmental organizations. It was only after the chairperson explained to them that the NCA is not a non-governmental organization and was not going to close that the policemen left. They however indicated that the Member-in-charge was eager to meet the leadership of the NCA in connection with their operations.

The raid on the offices housing the NCA headquarters comes in the wake of attacks on the NCA offices in Masvingo on Friday last week where several window panes and a door were shattered by still unknown assailants. The NCA views these attacks and others targeted at civic society organizations as an unprecedented attack on pro-democracy groups that ZANU PF and the military junta running the country perceive as having orchestrated that party's historic loss to the MDC in the March 29 harmonized elections. The state has gone into overdrive forcing various NGO's and other civic groups to stop their work forthwith as it strives to cripple the operations on all pro-democracy groups ahead of the presidential run-off election scheduled to take place on June 27.

The NCA would like to categorically state that it will not be intimidated by such cowardly acts and as such will not stop its work. The NCA is not a non-governmental organization and as such will not capitulate to threats by the military junta.

Visit the NCA fact sheet

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