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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Operation Murambatsvina - Countrywide evictions of urban poor - Index of articles
Court
rules in favour of Churches in Bulawayo
Zimbabwe Christian
Alliance
May 19, 2006
Churches in
Bulawayo are going ahead with their prayer procession to mark the
first anniversary of Operation Murambatsvina.
The decision
follows a Bulawayo High Court ruling this evening allowing Churches
in Bulawayo to go ahead with their prayer procession tomorrow morning
as planned.
Churches in
Bulawayo welcome the ruling by Judge Nicholas Ndou.
The ruling upholds
the right of the church to pray and worship without State interference.
Additionally, the ruling has guaranteed that the church's space
to conduct its mandate to help the poor with obstruction and interference.
The ruling has
restored some measure of confidence in our courts. We believe the
ruling will serve as a clear lesson to the police that despite oppressive
laws such as the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA) and Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) they are
still duty bound to respect the rights of citizens at all times.
As it is written
in Isaiah chapter 10 versus 1: "Woe to those who make unjust
laws."
It is pertinent to note actions by the police to try and ban the
prayer procession have caused unnecessary disruptions to our preparations.
Nevertheless, we are optimistic that Christians from all denominations
in the city will turn up tomorrow as initially planned.
After police's
unsuccessful attempts to prevent the prayer procession, it is even
more important for thousands of Bulawayo residents to attend the
prayer procession. A high turnout will serve to give hope to the
thousands of victims of Operation Murambatsvina who continue to
suffer and be intimidated by State security agents a year after
losing their livelihoods.
The procession
which starts from St Patrick's Church in Makokoba to Brethren in
Christ Church in the centre city, is part of nationwide activities
being coordinated by Zimbabwe Christian Alliance to stand in solidarity
with the poor.
The prayers
will be based on testimonies that will be given by some of the internally
displaced people. Solidarity messages from churches within the SADC
region and from Europe will be read during the service.
*For more
information contact Zimbabwe Christian Alliance coordinator Useni
Sibanda on +263-91-218 651 or +263- 11-881 316 useni_C4L@yahoo.co.uk
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