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MDC continues to excel in national leadership
Movement for Democratic Change
December 09, 2010

The MDC has scored a major leadership victory by steering through crucial amendments to the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), a law which severely silenced Zimbabweans since 1960 when it was known as the Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA).

After 20 years of independence, the former Zanu PF government strengthened the colonial hold onto the people when it strengthened LOMA and christened it POSA in order to deal with the nation with an iron fist. With its sweeping provisions, all pointing poisoned arrows at people's freedoms, POSA caused untold suffering to several generations of Zimbabweans who sought to exercise their fundamental right to freedom of expression and assembly.

The party wishes to congratulate our legislators, led by Chief Whip Innocent Gonese, in raising a private member's bill to amend the act. This is the first time in Zimbabwe's parliamentary history that a private member's bill managed to sail through, thus demonstrating an impeccable MDC record in national leadership. Coming a few days after Zimbabwe celebrated International Human Rights Day, the amendments to POSA - which now await a procedural clearance and endorsement in the Senate and Presidential accent -- come at a time when the people expected a new political dispensation to take root and propel the country into a new era.

The MDC takes this opportunity to encourage the Inclusive Government to review all retrogressive laws that curtail people's freedoms across the board to bring meaning to the exercise of democracy and citizens' rights. In particular, all media laws - AIPPA, the Broadcasting Services Act, and the Censorship and Entertainment Act - must be repealed as a matter of urgency.

The harassment of journalists, content creators and artists is an affront to creativity and national oversight. We deplore the incessant onslaught on the media by Zanu PF and the police who are still under a nostalgic grime that Zimbabwe must remain a failed state under a dictatorship.

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