Court postpones judgement on demo ban

The judge president, Justice George Chiweshe has postponed hearing of another application challenging the ban of demonstrations in Harare.

The ban was proclaimed on the 16th of September by the police in terms of Section 27 of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

Justice Chiweshe postponed the hearing and ordered the applicant, Bishop Ancelimo Magaya of Zimbabwe Devine Destiny to file heads of argument before the 21st of September.

Magaya is being represented by Mr Tendai Biti and Mr Dzimbabwe Chimbgwa.

The state represented by Mrs Fortune Chimbaru is also expected to file a response by the 23rd of this month.

Before postponing the matter, Justice Chiweshe indicated that this application is very important hence the parties must be afforded ample time to file their papers.

In his application, Bishop Magaya argued that the proclamation and notice on the ban by the police is in breach of sections 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 66 and 67 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.

The applicant want the court to declare section 27 of POSA unconstitutional.

In his founding affidavit, Bishop Magaya said on 23 September, they intended to hold a march and present a petition to parliament against alleged police brutality and violence.

He said as a church organisation, they are not covered by POSA, further indicating that they were not consulted before the issuance of the public notice.

The ban of demonstrations by the police follows public violence that occurred during protests by different political parties under the name National Electoral Reforms Agenda (NERA).

The demonstrations led to the destruction of property in the capital, among them ZBC and police vehicles.