Police call for peace during election period

POLICE have urged people to be peaceful during the election period while guaranteeing the safety and protection of journalists as the country goes for harmonised polls.

Speaking at an elections reporting workshop held in Bulawayo on Thursday, National Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, said the public must maintain peace and order at all times ahead, during and after the election period regardless of political orientation.

The elections reporting workshop was organised by the local chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa).

Snr Asst Comm Charamba also said police officers to be deployed during elections would undergo training on how to interact with media practitioners.

"We are here to protect life and property and I guarantee that things will change.

"We are training our officers that they recognise and respect the role that you play and understand the role the media plays, to inform and educate.

"You will be given space to execute your duties," said Snr Asst Comm Charamba to journalists.

'We want to ensure that each and every police officer understands the role that a journalist plays and want to ensure that your work is not disturbed."

Misa programmes co-ordinator Mr Nyasha Nyakunu said unlawful arrests and harassment of journalists had gone down by 70 percent.

"We attribute the decline to the interventions we have been making throughout the previous year and also the co-operation that we have been receiving from the ministry although we are still looking forward to some reforms to be implemented.

"The year has started on a good note and we hope that under the new dispensation, journalists are going to have a calm and workable media environment to operate from," said Mr Nyakunu.

He said only two cases of journalists being arrested while on duty have been recorded so far this year.

Mr Nyakunu said Misa was looking forward to Government implementing reforms that were recommended in the Information and Media Panel of Inquiry report (IMPI) of 2014.

In 2017, Misa recorded the specific assault of eight journalists on duty compared to 12 recorded the previous year.

A total of seven journalists were unlawfully arrested or detained in 2017, compared to 23 journalists the previous year, marking a 70 percent decline.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a total of 65 journalists were killed around the world in 2017.

RSF also reported that this marked a decline in the number of deaths, compared to 79 journalists killed in 2016.

Of the number, 39 were murdered and deliberately targeted while 26 were victims of conflict.