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Starving residents take legal action against police
Alex Bell, SW Radio Africa
September 26, 2008

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news260908/starvingresidents260908.htm

Residents of Harare's Glen Norah suburb have taken legal action to stop police from interfering with critically needed food aid meant to be distributed to two hundred desperate households.

In July the Glen Norah Residents Association received a donation of food items, including maize meal and sugar beans from the Catholic Church based Jesuit Relief Fund, which was meant to be distributed to the association's vulnerable members, including orphans, the elderly and people living with HIV and AIDS.

But just after receiving the donation police officers from the Glen Norah Police Station raided the home of Kingsley Kanyuchi, the residents association's chairperson and interrogated him about the source and destination of the food aid. The police then barred the association from parceling the food relief, until it got authorization from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has since filed a court application with the high court, contesting that the association is under no legal obligation to register under the Private Voluntary Organisation Act (PVO Act) and is exempt from the PVO Act's definition of a private and voluntary organisation. In a draft court order being sought by ZLHR, the lawyers want the police and anyone acting through or under them to be barred from frustrating or preventing the association from distributing food to its members.

ZLHR spokesperson, Kumbirai Mafunda, told Newsreel the papers were filed on Wednesday but said the lawyers have yet to find out when the case will be heard in court. He added it was critical the case is heard as soon as possible 'because of the number of people who are starving' as 'large numbers of families are struggling'. Mafunda also added that despite the lifting of the government imposed food aid ban, 'the lives of millions of vulnerable Zimbabweans are still at risk'. He said checks on aid agencies, such as submitting details of their humanitarian programmes and funding, as well as areas and modes of operations to the government are compromising the resumption of critical field operations.

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