POLICE DEFIANCE OF MINISTERS MAKONE AND MUTASA A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: COMMUNITIES POINT CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

POLICE DEFIANCE OF MINISTERS MAKONE AND MUTASA A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: COMMUNITIES POINT CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

Communities Point applauds Zimbabwe Republic Police and takes the opportunity to castigate and condemn the interference of Ministers Mutasa and Makone for interfering in the due process of law: http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=20772&cat=1

While we have the full understanding of what it means to be a parent, the actions of Minister Mutasa in trying to interfere with law enforcement by seeking the release from custody of his son Martin Mutasa clearly flies in the face of what the Mutasa family endured untold pain and suffering for during the struggle for independence in Zimbabwe. If the story of Zimbabwe is to be told, no-one can ever run away from the fact that one of the most unique features of the liberation struggle were families that went into the liberation struggle as a family unit and the names that quickly come to mind are the Mutasa, Chitepo, Malianga, Moyo, Sithole, Mawema and Chinamano families. The Mutasa family gave its father, mother and sons to the liberation cause and not so many people can easily erase that in our memories. But the struggle the Mutasa family was fighting for was a principled one based on set goals chief of which were democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Unfortunately Martin Mutasa’s decision to hang on with dubious characters and opportunists like Themba Mliswa [whose family credentials in the struggle for independence start post-2000 with their own self-serving invasions of productive farms they then go on to completely run down; leaving a trail of redundant farm-workers and starving families], was at the expense of those principles.

The police cannot allow people to invade firms in the name of indigenisation and even though I come from a similar background of a revolutionary tradition, I do not believe it is enriching to engage in such activities that fundamentally go against what Minister Mutasa and other liberation fighters that also include my own father, mother, brother and uncles, fought for. There is a time to call off these privileges, there must be a stop to excesses and Zimbabwe needs to restore itself and respect its own institutions. Surely the police has been found on the wrong in the past and I would have been the first to castigate them had Martin Mutasa been arrested wrongfully. But the interference of Minister Mutasa, a father figure not only to Martin, but to our contemporary history, flies in the face of all the sacrifices that heroes present and departed sacrificed for. In the same light I want to register my complete disappointment with co-Minister of Home Affairs Theresa Makone. Zimbabwe will quickly lose confidence in a Home Affairs Minister who thinks her role is to remove from lawful custody by coercion, relatives of fellow ministers who would have been lawfully detained for disrespecting property laws.

There is a call for Theresa Makone to understand due process. In a country the police ought to exist as an arm of government that enforces the law and while the home affairs minister is accountable for their actions, she is not expected to supervise personnel and she can never enter police stations to remove detained people from lawful custody whatever the intention, good or bad. Those in the position of Martin Mutasa should instruct defence lawyers if they are challenging their detention. A Minister cannot be that lawyer and surely a minister of home affairs cannot act like a traditional leader using prerogative powers to discharge willy-nilly those she likes and condemn those she doesn’t want to custody. To allow that will condemn the country to dark ages and surely Minister Makone must reflect.

The attitude of Theresa Makone must send shivers down the spine of every Zimbabwean as we contemplate the future scenarios as regards the work of police. If she could do so to people like Themba Mliswa, Martin Mutasa etc what will stop her from trying to release her own relative if they are accused of heinous crimes such as murder or rape? It seems there is a demonstrated clear failure to understand the role of minister. The role of minister does not operate to bully institutions and citizens into one’s whims, rather it exists to facilitate the smooth running of government departments for the common good of the citizenry. In concluding, I call the two ministers to duty and ask them to reflect and challenge them to apologise to the Zimbabwean public for steps too far travelled. I also call Zimbabweans to learn from the debacle and remain vigilant about the continued abuse of power even under the Inclusive Government. We were told that things will be done differently by MDC-T, the actions of Theresa Makone who is a senior member of the MDC-T tell a completely different story. Power corrupts but in the case of Theresa Makone the velocity of the corruption cannot even find space in the Guinness Book of Records for its incredibility.

Julius Sai MUTYAMBIZI-DEWA
mutyambizidewa@yahoo.co.uk 07529705413
CHAIRMAN; COMMUNITIES POINT