Who will police the police?

Zimbabwe Republic Police

Misheck Shambare

Opinion

The spate of violence, which has been orchestrated by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), recently shows the country is still far from honoring human rights despite the new constitution.

Police has come under fire from Human Rights Organisations and members of the public for their continued use of violence and violation of human rights by arbitrarily beating people.

This comes after the police in Harare seriously injured the Occupy Africa Unity square activist Itai Dzamara and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) lawyer Kennedy Masiye.

Masiye was assaulted at Africa Unity Square in central Harare whilst attempting to represent his clients, Itai Dzamara and other protesters, who were being subjected to assault by the same police officers whilst staging a peaceful sit-in.

Despite showing all his credentials and identification as a lawyer the ZRP continued to beat him and At the Harare Central Police Station they continued to detain him knowing that he was a lawyer.

The Police in Marondera also fatally assaulted a kombi driver, who died on the spot and they went on armed with teargases and indiscriminately beat up people who were marching denouncing the death of Kombi driver and injuring a four-year-old boy.

Human rights should be embodied with accountability and respect for the rule of law and the constitution.

Itai Dzamara, and his "group" were simply exercising their rights according to Section (59), of the constitution their Right to Demonstrate & Petition.

As long as their demonstrations were done peacefully, then that is what millions of Zimbabweans went to vote for when they voted “YES” in the new constitution.

ZRP did no have the right to detain, harass and chase them around. The nation states and other duty-bearers have to comply with the legal norms & standards enshrined in human rights legislation.

However somebody needs to remind the ZRP that Zimbabweans were shown the draft constitution, that It was not a document made by President Mugabe, or MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai or any other politician, but millions of Zimbabweans had a say in its drafting.

By voting "Yes" to the constitution everyone expects to be protected by it and it does not mean when one is in ZRP uniform it does not levitates them above the law.

The level of violence displayed by Zimbabwean police is an illustration of a police force used to protect individual interests in the political landscape.

Although, ZRP may decline to be partisan but judging from their actions it can be easily established which political party they support.

The police are no longer doing its mandate duty, which is to protect citizens it is now more of a 'political' police

They is also lack of professionalism in carrying out their mandated duties which can be attributed to the time of training which is even lesser compared to other countries.

Training is all about indoctrination, guidance and compliance even to orders they personally deem unfit.

Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Walter Mzembi is in London busy trying to convince prospective tourists that all is well in Zimbabwe, while the ZRP continues to make headlines in the media for wrong reason that will continue to soil the country image.

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Misheck Shambare

With unemployment rate soaring in the country which independent analysts speculates to be over 85 percent many people in the country are struggling to make ends meet.

The situation is even solemn as the leading country’s places of higher learning continue to churn out thousands of graduates every year but with no new jobs being created.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU), a workers representative body has projected that more than 400 people are being retrenched every week with no exclusive packages.

In these calamitous situations many people have resorted to any means possible that will make them any a decent living and some of these people are women who are helping long distance commuter omnibuses to get their customers.

Dressed smartly these ladies go to undesignated long distance commuter omnibus ranks and conspire with kombi crews to masquerade as budding travelers already in the Kombi yet it will be a smear team in the Kombi deceiving prospective travelers into believing that the Kombi is already full and is about to go.

These women operate at the exhibition park rank for the Bulawayo-Gweru Kombis, Second street extension for Mt Darwin-Bindura rank and along Samora machel for Murewa-Bhora omnibuses.

Tendai Kanyepa, Gweru-Harare kombi driver said these women play a significant part into loading of our buses.

“Travelers have a tendency of getting into nearly full Kombis which at many times is not this case.

“It’s not easy to load passengers into a Kombi from scratch and with the help of these women it would seem the Kombi is already full yet its empty in actual sense,” said Kanyepa

These women will leave one by one in the Kombi they have aboard as real and prospective passengers come aboard.

When one passenger enters the Kombi one of the women leaves and in a chronological like that until the Kombi is full with latent passengers.

After the job each woman gets 50 cents or R5 for their services and a Kombi can hire at least eight of these women per load which is nearly close to half of the people who board the Kombi.

“In a good day we make close to $10 and $15 depending on the time of the month,” Emily Sande one of the woman who is into these trade said.

These women have find a way to earn a living through cheating travelers who at times prefer to hitch hike private motorists who will be going along their destination because they are fast compared to the Kombis.

“Travelers appear to be on the rush each time they are looking for faster means of transport which at times is not available hence they look for alternatives.

“These highway passengers do not want to be the first ones to be in a kombi and rather prefer a Kombi that is near full that’s where we come in making them believe the Kombi is full yet it’s not,” said Sande.

However highway passengers did not have kind words for these women siting that they are making them late to their destinations.

“It is not like I do not want to be the first few passengers in the Kombi but sometimes I will be rushing against time thereby I would like to board a Kombi that is nearly full,” said Lawrence Chirenje who was going along Binura highway road.

“Sometimes these Kombi drivers make you sit in the Kombi while they are making unnecessary rounds looking for prospective travelers which is stressful,” added Chirenje.

Urban Commuters Operators of Zimbabwe President Simbarashe Ngarande said it was unfortunate for these passengers to be tricked in such a way, but he however urged these highway travelers to board Kombi at designated points.

 “Passengers have the right to board whatever takes them fast as possible to their destinations but for these unlucky passengers they found themselves stark in these Kombis.

“It is imperative for Kombi crew to be honest to their passengers and for travelers they should board their transport at designated ranks,” said Ngarande

ZIMRA’s Intention to Tax Vendors Unfair

Misheck Shambare

Opinion

For vendors in the country, it never rains but it pours.

Recently the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) announced that it was going to descend on vendors and force them to pay tax from $2-$5 per day.

Vendors who usually play cat and mouse games with the city council inspectors and the Zimbabwe Republic Police while selling at undesignated points now have to contend with the national taxman.  

Given the meager profits they make from their vending, this new move by ZIMRA is bound to make their trade much leaner.

The question that emerges is how can Zimra tax vendors who are already struggling with life with ever continuing deterioration of our economy.

With media reports that Zimra has failed to meet its revenue target for the first half of the year owing to the current liquidity crunch and company closures, collecting tax from vendors can only be seen as a measure of desperation by the authority.

Zimra would be better placed plugging loopholes in its own heavily porous internal systems.

Let’s take for instance that the authority is responsible for collecting all the taxes at all border posts in the country.  It is a service that it is not doing so well due to their system which is regularly criticized on the basis of allegations of corruption.

Most goods that enter the country are some of them pass through the boarders without even paying the customs duty because of people within the system of Zimra who are heavily shady.

I once travelled to South Africa where I needed to buy some items for my family and on my way back the bus was loaded with several goods purchased by people there. Instead of the Zimra authority to come and do his duties at the bus they just instructed the driver to come with their amount which I did not think was equivalent to all the goods that were in the bus.

As for me I only paid a quarter of the money of the goods that I did purchase from South Africa through the loopholes.

As a result a lot of revenue was lost because the bus was loaded with cross boarder traders because of incompetence of the Zimra officials.

One cross boarder trader who was on the bus exposed that this has become the way of their life that they will just approach the driver and make him pay their duty through dappled means as this will benefit them in the long run of their business.

In the end many people are finding it easier to do their shopping outside the country. In fact many people when they think of buying clothes or house hold furniture they will just cross the border and buy there because it will be cheaper. In its place of Zimra promoting the “Buy Zimbabwe” campaign they are letting it down.

People arrested over social media in Zimbabwe so far

People arrested over social media in Zimbabwe so far

1)      Manduwa Mutare teenager arrested January 2014 for posting that Mugabe has died.

2)      Vikas Mavhudzi arrested 2011 for writing on Morgan Tsvangirai’s Facebook wall that the opposition should emulate the Egyptian style revolutions.

3)      Madzibaba Chacha arrested for posting a selfie wearing a uniform of the ZRP yet he is not a policeman.

4)      Edmund Kudzayi former Sundaymail Editor arrested for allegedly operating the Baba Jukwa Facebook page.

5)      Phillip Kudzayi, elder brother of  Edmund Kudakwashe Kudzayi arrested to be an accomplice of Baba Jukwa

6)      Jonathan Moyo Information Media and Broadcasting Services Minister questioned by the police over Baba Jukwa page investigations

7)      Saviour Kasukuwere questioned by the police over Baba Jukwa page investigations

8)      Herbert Huruba army official questioned over Baba Jukwa

9)      Romeo Musemburi, University of Zimbabwe student was arrested for criminal nuisance as he posted on Baba Jukwa that he wanted guns to fight in the street.

10)  Mxolisi Ncube, South Africa-based Zimbabwean journalist arrested linked to Baba Jukwa

Hooliganism has no place in soccer

Misheck Shambare

Some say rugby is a game of hooligans watched by professionals while soccer is said to be a game of professionals watched by radicals.

The statement seeks to describe how these two games operate. Rugby is a hard game where players in the game seem to be fighting a lot yet is the game. At the same time people who watch rugby are much orderly and well controlled and the atmosphere is friendly for family gathering.

The same cannot be said about the world most watched sport soccer in Zimbabwe which seems to have peace in the playing field nonetheless people who watch it are something else. They are violent in nature and unruly behavior because they do not want to accept the result of the matches.

The game of soccer has three options of result after it ended and it’s up to the supporters to accept it in a routine that will not hurt others. Whether your team has lost, drew or win soccer fans should just accept their fate as it comes. Not every day that your team wins and collects maximum points sometimes a loss or a stalemate is bound to come your way that’s the reality of the sport.

Violence will not change the complexion of the result but it can make even the situation more difficult for your teams since they will be punished accordingly regarding the raucous behavior of its fans.

Soccer is a beautiful game watched by millions of people all over the world including women and children. They go and celebrate their teams playing at the same time as it’s a form of entertainment.

However for Zimbabwean football it has become a restricted zone for women and children who cannot consume the actions of male soccer fans that which is blemished by violence and foul language as well as victimization.

Some people say a football match is where male adults behave in a manner can be equated to that of wild drunkard ghetto youths or rank touts. A football match should be a peaceful joint or a place of celebration where soccer fans enjoy the game with no hard feelings.

Women and children are constantly victimized at the stadium. When women go for a soccer match they have to go through their clothes to find something that will not cause commotion. For instance if they wear miniskirts or tight fitting clothes they will be victimized and shamed by some unruly men.

As a result fewer women attends soccer matches because they fear being victimized and some sections of the public compare women who go to soccer matches as same as prostitutes.

Other races fear to attend soccer matches because of fear to be racially discriminated by the rowdy soccer supporters in the country

Soccer fans in the country lack maturity in terms of supporting the worlds most watched game. In actual fact it’s no longer supporting but it’s now a platform of victimizing other people in the name of soccer.

A good example where supporting soccer had exceeded its expectations by unbecoming behavior is the recent game between Dynamos and Highlanders at the Barbour field’s stadium. Highlanders overreacted when they were a goal down. They started to throw missiles into the pitch to show their anger but however in a game of football the team that plays better should win and it’s up to fans to accept their fate.

What can be done?

Having attended the Zimbabwe and South Africa cricket test match it dawned on me that a lot needs to be done as far as supporting soccer in the country is concerned.  Cricket brought together different races, the blacks, the whites, Indians and Muslims but which is not the same thing in a game of soccer.

If soccer is to gain its status it needs a lot of stake holders to chip in towards the game. Soccer fans need nerves to accept the outcome of the game because it will save lives, money and infrastructure destruction.

For these things to be avoided it needs a lot of measures that includes educating the fans on the dangers of violence through the Zimbabwe football governing body.

Teams should be punished to play in empty stadiums to encourage discipline of the fans. By so doing it will enable fans to exercise the violence free soccer matches.

Security should do its job conscientiously and search people for dangerous weapons into the stadium. Like the incident that happened last year that a soccer fan entered into the ground with a catapult but was later apprehended by police before hurting anyone.

Soccer players should start to preach discipline to their fans and not provoke other team’s fans. Some players have a tendency of celebrating a goal going to the bay of the opposite team which aggravates anger and then violence.

The game of football in the country is in stagnations with the way fans behave at the matches. A notable number of people have died due to injuries that are said to have been sustained from violence emanating from supporting a soccer match.