On Thursday, 25th June at around 10 p.m. one of our ZAPU youth members sent this terse message: “I have been arrested in Cowdray Park.at my aunt’s house.
The reason given is that I am moving around without authority. I have shown the arresting police the letter of authorisation which clearly states that I am a covid-19 scout and entitled to be where I am but they have totally ignored it!”
There were many things which did not add up. This young man was not moving around as alleged but standing at the gate of his aunt’s house, awaiting a friend to pick him up and drive him to his own residence.
He was in possession of all documentation to indicate his identity and legitimate reason to be where he was. Without provocation the police went on a tirade of tribal slurs telling the young man that they had the power and authority to act in any against Ndebele people.
Needless to say, the friend too was quickly arrested on arrival and charged with the same offence of moving around without authorisation.
The terse message brought about all kind of fears. It is not long ago that two young ladies were arrested by the police and subjected to brutal treatment; the case brought against this action is still pending.
Judging from past cases of impunity by the police in Zimbabwe, it would come as no surprise if the perpetrators of the dastardly acts in the two cases referred got off scot free or if action is taken at all it would be in the form of a transfer to a different location, often with promotion for the offending officers!
The two young men were to be subjected to more insults, minimization and threats lasting seven hours. They were only released without any formal charge on payment of a sum of 500 Zimbabwe bond, which was not recorded or receipted.
The toxic mix of high handed policing and tribal attitudes of the officer corps in Bulawayo, many deployed from outside the city, might be a divisive time bomb that could disturb the fine balance which could erupt in internecine strife between residents of the city who come from different parts of Zimbabwe, many of whom have cohabited in relative peace for many decades.
The idea of good policing relies on the upholding of core values of the society policed and enforcement of the rule of law. Thus ideally, police should be deployed within societies whom they know, understand and respect.
When one looks at the composition of the police force in Bulawayo, its members could be regarded as an alien force, from regions other than Bulawayo or even Matabeleland, deployed almost as an occupying force whose identification marks are the disdain for locals and their language, culture and values.
How on earth can it be justifiable that an enforcement officer can utter the words: “taura Shona, handizvi Ndevere” in the centre of Bulawayo?
Their maltreatment in the two cases referred, which by the way is the norm and not exception is reminiscent of the Nazi view of the Jews as Untermenschen — subhumans — and as such excluded from the system of moral rights and obligations that bind humankind together.
ZAPU National Department of Information and Publicity.
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www.zapu.org