POLICE have said parties under the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA) banner cannot have their protest march in Harare’s Central Business District (CBD) but should instead have a rally at an open space near the Rotten Row courts.
The said open space is known by the names Robert Mugabe Square, Civic Square or Freedom Square.
It is where the last NERA gathering was meant to be held until it was stopped by the police leading to CBD running battles with opposition supporters in 2016.
ZRP was to issue a temporary ban on demonstrations in Harare’s CBD but, at the time, many said they thought the police and Zanu PF activists were to blame for the disturbances.
Chief Superintendent J.J Chizemo said the latest decision was taken in view of the evidence the ZRP has at hand arising from incidents which happened during previous NERA demonstrations where property was damaged, shops looted, government institutions destroyed, innocent people assaulted and vehicles damaged.
H said, “The business community of the central business district has expressed fear that a demonstration of 2500 people will result in public disorder and breach of peace.
“The apprehension of fear in the business community in the CBD cannot be dispelled by the arrangements that you intend to put in place as more than 2500 people will march along the streets disturbing the smooth flow of human and vehicle traffic for more than four hours.”
Chizemo said NERA should send only 10 people to proceed to ZEC offices and hand over their petition.
“After handing over the petition the gathering must disperse immediately,” ordered Chizemo.
According to NERA, the Wednesday protest is against government’s taking over of the procurement of biometric voter registration (BVR) kits from the UNDP.
In an effort to stop the demo, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Tuesday called an all parties meeting out of which its chairperson Rita Makarau walked out citing intimidation through the media by some political parties.