‘Having fun’ banned in Bulawayo

Remember the bannings of all public demonstrations and political gatherings recently extended to throughout the country? Looks like the police think that includes having fun.

Meikles Stores countrywide are holding their annual promotions during March, and March 21st was set aside as the day for the Bulawayo promotion.

In order to publicise the new Food Hall, a procession was arranged consisting of drum majorettes and a fire engine. This would proceed from Centenary Park to Meikles Store. Sweets and other “goodies” would be handed out during its progress. A jumping castle would be installed outside of the store for the benefit of the kids.

A considerable amount of time, effort and money went into the planning of this promotion.

In order to do things ‘correctly’ (i.e. in line with POSA) the Police were advised some time ago and permission was granted on the understanding that the ‘licence fee’ was paid in advance of the promotion. With the arrangements now almost complete, the licence fee was presented.

The Police, however, have now decided that they will no longer allow a procession to take place and that the Jumping Castle must be placed inside of the store. Their reasoning – the procession “could turn political” and the jumping castle would attract crowds which might also “turn political”.

What next? Will they ban crowds at football matches? Ban people from standing around together waiting for buses?

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, police repression, political repression, human rights

This entry was posted by a Bulawayo activist on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 1:15 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.