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Zanu PF councillor bars MISA meeting
MISA-Zimbabwe
October 11, 2005

Thembinkosi Sibanda, a Zanu PF councillor in Dete, Matabeleland North Province, barred a meeting organised by MISA-Zimbabwe under its Community Radio Initiatives (CRIs) saying the organisers did not have police clearance.

The public meeting attended by close to 1 000 people, had been scheduled for 7 October 2005 at Dete Hall to brief residents on the Community Radio Initiatives and the concept of community radio stations.

The MISA advocacy committee in the mining town of Hwange, had however, verbally cleared the meeting with the police at Dete ahead of the scheduled date resulting in MISA-Zimbabwe’s advocacy officer Takura Zhangazha, and driver Paul Zaru, travelling more than 500km from Harare to the venue.

However, upon arrival at the venue of the meeting, Sibanda asked whether the meeting had been cleared by the police in terms of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and insisted that the organisers produce a letter of confirmation.

The councillor accompanied by the chairman of the advocacy committee Nkosana Mpofu, then travelled in a MISA-Zimbabwe vehicle to Dete Police Station to confirm that the police had indeed cleared the meeting.

The officer-in-charge was not present at the material time and none of his junior officers were in a position to give the greenlight for the meeting to proceed accordingly and the meeting was aborted.

Mpofu confirmed that Dete Police had cleared the meeting on 3 October 2005, but that they had not been issued with a letter of confirmation.

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