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High Court judge evicts police from occupying WOZA offices
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
June 21, 2011

High Court Judge, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi, has ordered the police to vacate the offices of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise Trust (WOZA) which they have been occupying for the past two weeks.

Some members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) have been occupying a house belonging to the women pressure group in one of Bulawayo's suburbs which the organisation uses as an office since Friday 10 June 2011 when they raided the WOZA offices at a time when some WOZA members were holding a meeting to discuss the electricity outages bedeviling the country more particularly the incessant load shedding coupled with the inexplicable and exorbitant electricity bills with a view to petitioning Parliament to seek redress to the situation.

But Justice Mathonsi on Monday 20 June 2011 ordered Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, Chief Superintendent P.R Moyo, the Officer Commanding CID Law and Order Section at Bulawayo Central Police Station and the Officer In Charge CID Law and Order Section at Bulawayo Central Police Station "to order and facilitate the immediate withdrawal of all police officers" from the WOZA premises and the surrounding yard and not to remove anything from the house "without due process".

Justice Mathonsi's ruling came after WOZA through their lawyer Kossam Ncube of Kossam Ncube and Partners, who is a board member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) filed an urgent chamber application on Tuesday 14 June 2011 seeking an order compelling Chihuri, Chief Superintendent Moyo and the Officer In Charge CID Law and Order Section at Bulawayo Central Police Station to remove all police officers from the house and the surrounding yard with immediate effect and to bar the police from removing anything whatsoever from the house.

The High Court Judge restored full possession and occupation of the house to WOZA.

Since the raid on the WOZA property a fortnight ago, the police have maintained a continuous presence at the house thereby depriving WOZA of possession and usage of the house under the guise of searching for subversive materials. Because of the occupation of its property, WOZA had been unable to use its property for its purposes. At one time the police occupying the WOZA offices chased away lawyers for the organisation when they attempted to intervene on its behalf.

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