By Chengeto Chidi
FreeZim Congress leader and presidential hopeful Joseph Makamba Busha has called for the repealing of the Public Order and Security Act saying that it is insignificant.
Speaking at a press conference held in Harare today Busha said that political parties need the freedom to campaign and this is made impossible by the law
His grievance was from the need to seek permission to hold their public campaigns a week before the date set
“To also ensure that there is freedom of campaigning, I would also like to ask the presumption to make sure that the POSA, the requirement that political parties must get permission 7 days before, getting into any activity, that must be scrapped during the election period because there is no point,” he said.
The Public Order and Security Act, which is a law that was enacted in 2002 gives the police broad powers to control public gatherings, including political rallies and demonstrations.
In relation to elections and campaigning, POSA has been criticized for restricting the ability of opposition parties to campaign freely and for allowing the ruling party to use state resources to promote its candidates.
The act requires that organizers of public gatherings obtain police clearance before holding any event, and failure to do so can result in arrest and prosecution.
He also said that they need to be able to host free and peaceful campaigns ahead of the elections set for August
“Nomination court is on the 21st, elections are on the 23rd of August, during that period that window of campaigning we must be able to be allowed to campaign in peace and freedom because that is what we fought for,” Makamba said.
Also speaking regarding elections the aspiring presidential candidate he shared that the voters roll should be accurate and made public to all
“There are a few things we would want the government to consider for these elections, to make sure that the voters roll is clean and is accessible to all participants,” he said.
He urged all supporters, the security forces to exercise restraint and parties to be able to obey and observe the law which us important for credible and clean elections,”
In recent years, there have been calls to reform or repeal POSA to ensure that the rights of citizens to freedom of expression and assembly are protected. In 2018, the government passed the Public Order and Security Amendment Act, which amended some sections of POSA, but it remains to be seen how these changes will be implemented in practice.
Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) had several rallies banned last year ahead of the by-elections that took place on 26 March 2022 and at the time discontent against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s party rose and the atmosphere got tense each time an opposition rally was organised.
Opposition parties have accused the police of using POSA to suppress their campaigns by denying them permission to hold rallies or by using excessive force to break up their gatherings.
There have also been reports of the police selectively enforcing the act, allowing ruling party events to proceed without clearance while cracking down on opposition events.