Crisis Coalition Press Statement: Zimbabwean Courts curtailing the right to liberty
Source:
The state, through judicial capture, has curtailed the right to liberty and this has resulted in opposition and civil society activists, arrested on frivolous charges spending lengthy periods in detention with the courts denying them bail despite the lack of compelling reasons.
The Magistrate Courts have been the biggest disappointment and this has been proved by the fact that in most of the appeals for bail at the High Court by the incarcerated activists, the High court has proved that the lower Courts are misdirecting themselves in the bail rulings.
By Ndatenda Njanike
UNIVERSITY of Zimbabwe student Allan Moyo was Thursday denied bail by High Court judge, Justice David Foroma.
Moyo (23), a leader of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), is facing a charge of incitement to commit public violence and was arrested on 7 December 2020 before he was denied bail at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts.
The state alleged Moyo, on July 3 2020, incited commuters at Copacabana bus terminus in central Harare telling them the time to stage a revolt against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration was ripe because he had failed as a leader, and was destroying the lives of the people of Zimbabwe.
By Leopold Munhende
GOVERNMENT’s electronic learning facilities have been a challenge for learners without access to technology, with unstable home environments and those bearing the brunt of Zimbabwe’s economic woes, the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) has said.
In its policy brief on the Covid-19 impact on learning in the country, titled “Access to Education in the midst of Global Pandemics: Policy Lessons”, RAU argues some schools lacked the technological infrastructure to provide e-learning, yet government maintains learning must go ahead.
“Remote learning has been difficult for students who also have to deal with challenges such as learning disabilities, economic hardships, or unstable home environments, many of these students will struggle to thrive in a remote environment where they lack hands-on guidance, emotional support and access to technology,” reads the report.
Abstract
Since the coup of November 2017, Zimbabwe has been faced with the intensification and consolidation of authoritarianism which is actively closing the democratic space, reversing democratic gains and seeking to annihilate the opposition. Simultaneously, the opposition’s own contradictions have deepened and are spiraling out of control to the point of almost rendering the opposition internally dysfunctional.
This think paper seeks to generate dialogue by critically looking at the history of the opposition, how the military preemptively took over after the March 29 2008 elections and created a system to ensure prolonged dominance.
The paper further discusses possible pathways for the opposition and also looks at the ideological ground and the communication strategy of the opposition. Further, the paper also comes as the nation marks two years since the 14 and 15 January 2019 peaceful protests against austerity, fuel hike and general hardships which was violently thwarted b
THE Midlands State University (MSU) has indefinitely postponed face-to-face lectures citing increased Covid-19 cases.
However, the MSU deputy registrar academic affairs, Irvine Gumbo said students should pay full fees and register for e-learning classes that commenced Monday.
“In light of the continued increase in the number of new Covid-19 positive cases, Midlands State University would like to advise all students, across all campuses, particularly those who were scheduled to commence face-to-face lectures on the 4
th of January 2021 that all face-to-face lectures have been postponed to a date to be advised,” Gumbo said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, all students are advised to pay their full fees and register to be able to attend online classes and access learning materials. Online classes for all students will commence on the 11