News / International
Leicester Cathedral rally in solidarity with Evenia Mawongera
20 Jul 2013 at 07:51hrs | Views
On Sunday, 21 July, there will be a rally in solidarity with Evenia Mawongera outside the Leicester Cathedral on Peacock Lane in Leicester. The rally will take place from 6am and run till 6pm. At the rally, Evenia's friends will be asking people to sign a petition urging Home Secretary Theresa May and Immigration Minister Mark Harper to allow Evenia to stay in Leicester with her friends, her daughters and her grandchildren (Link).
The rally will be held there because that is where Evenia performed for The Queen when she came to visit Leicester in March last year as part of a series of events to celebrate the start of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
On Saturday, 20 July, there will be a 10th rally at the Town Hall Square. The rally will take place from 1pm and run till 3pm. Evenia's friends will, again, be asking people to sign the petition asking Home Secretary Theresa May and Immigration Minister Mark Harper to let Evenia stay in Leicester.
On Friday, 19 July, Evenia Mawongera and her friends from the Zimbabwe Association Choir went to Loughborough and staged a street performance for the people of Loughbourough. While they were performing, members of Amnesty International Leicester who had gone to Loughbourough with them talked to the people of Loughborough about Evenia, distributed flyers and asked them to sign the petition.
Members of Amnesty International Leicester also talked about the effects of the proposed changes to legal aid provision. They asked people to consider signing the petition calling on Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to ensure that legal aid remains available to people on low- or no income (Link).
A few minutes before 11, Evenia and her friends made their way from the city centre to the Loughborough Immigration Reporting Centre where they staged another performance before Evenia went in to sign.
Shortly afterwards, her friends went in to see the manager and they presented her with the petition from the people of Leicester in which 690 people, including over 2/3 of the councilors who serve them, all ask Home Secretary Theresa May and Immigration Minister Mark Harper to allow Evenia to stay in Leicester. The petition is part of a campaign that is taking place online and at the Town Hall Square in Leicester. So far, close to 900 people have signed the online petition while about 100 people per day are signing the petition at the Town Hall Square in Leicester.
The manager at Loughborough Reporting Centre acknowledged receiving the Town Hall Square petition and said it would be passed on to the caseworker handling Evenia's case.
Evenia was told to report back at Lougborough Reporting Centre on Friday, 26 July.
The Centre's manager asked Evenia's friends if they would be accompanying Evenia each time she came to the reporting centre. Evenia's friends assured the manager that each time Evenia is released back to them, they were going to go back to Leicester, encourage more people from the city to sign the petition and that these petitions would then be delivered to the reporting centre the next time Evenia came to sign and that her friends would stay and perform at the reporting centre until Evenia was released back to them to return to Leicester.
On the occasion of the 19 July rally, after Evenia was released, she and her friends went back to the Loughborough City Centre where they staged another performance for the people of Loughborough before coming back to Leicester.
An officer from the local constabulary who had been watching the performance at the Immigration Reporting Centre wanted to know who was coordinating the campaign. He then asked for the coordinator's name and mobile telephone number and advised the coordinator that while Evenia and her friends are free to protest, they should be mindful not to block people's access in and out of the reporting centre. The coordinator said they would bear the advice in mind when they came back to the reporting centre on Friday, 26 July.
When Evenia and her friends got back to Leicester, they rested under Evenia's Tree at the Town Hall Square. A number of people came up to them and spoke to Evenia and told her that they supported the campaign to let her stay in Leicester. They said that what the government was doing to her was terrible.
Because a ticket has been booked for Evenia to be forcibly removed to her native Zimbabwe on 14 August, the Leicester rallies in solidarity with Evenia will continue everyday from 1pm till 3pm under Evenia's Tree at the Town Hall Square in Leicester.
Evenia needs more people to write to their MPs and to sign the petition urging Home Secretary Theresa May and Immigration Minister Mark Harper to exercise their discretion and let her stay in Leicester with her friends, her daughters and her grandchildren.
The rally will be held there because that is where Evenia performed for The Queen when she came to visit Leicester in March last year as part of a series of events to celebrate the start of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
On Saturday, 20 July, there will be a 10th rally at the Town Hall Square. The rally will take place from 1pm and run till 3pm. Evenia's friends will, again, be asking people to sign the petition asking Home Secretary Theresa May and Immigration Minister Mark Harper to let Evenia stay in Leicester.
On Friday, 19 July, Evenia Mawongera and her friends from the Zimbabwe Association Choir went to Loughborough and staged a street performance for the people of Loughbourough. While they were performing, members of Amnesty International Leicester who had gone to Loughbourough with them talked to the people of Loughborough about Evenia, distributed flyers and asked them to sign the petition.
Members of Amnesty International Leicester also talked about the effects of the proposed changes to legal aid provision. They asked people to consider signing the petition calling on Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to ensure that legal aid remains available to people on low- or no income (Link).
A few minutes before 11, Evenia and her friends made their way from the city centre to the Loughborough Immigration Reporting Centre where they staged another performance before Evenia went in to sign.
Shortly afterwards, her friends went in to see the manager and they presented her with the petition from the people of Leicester in which 690 people, including over 2/3 of the councilors who serve them, all ask Home Secretary Theresa May and Immigration Minister Mark Harper to allow Evenia to stay in Leicester. The petition is part of a campaign that is taking place online and at the Town Hall Square in Leicester. So far, close to 900 people have signed the online petition while about 100 people per day are signing the petition at the Town Hall Square in Leicester.
The manager at Loughborough Reporting Centre acknowledged receiving the Town Hall Square petition and said it would be passed on to the caseworker handling Evenia's case.
Evenia was told to report back at Lougborough Reporting Centre on Friday, 26 July.
The Centre's manager asked Evenia's friends if they would be accompanying Evenia each time she came to the reporting centre. Evenia's friends assured the manager that each time Evenia is released back to them, they were going to go back to Leicester, encourage more people from the city to sign the petition and that these petitions would then be delivered to the reporting centre the next time Evenia came to sign and that her friends would stay and perform at the reporting centre until Evenia was released back to them to return to Leicester.
On the occasion of the 19 July rally, after Evenia was released, she and her friends went back to the Loughborough City Centre where they staged another performance for the people of Loughborough before coming back to Leicester.
An officer from the local constabulary who had been watching the performance at the Immigration Reporting Centre wanted to know who was coordinating the campaign. He then asked for the coordinator's name and mobile telephone number and advised the coordinator that while Evenia and her friends are free to protest, they should be mindful not to block people's access in and out of the reporting centre. The coordinator said they would bear the advice in mind when they came back to the reporting centre on Friday, 26 July.
When Evenia and her friends got back to Leicester, they rested under Evenia's Tree at the Town Hall Square. A number of people came up to them and spoke to Evenia and told her that they supported the campaign to let her stay in Leicester. They said that what the government was doing to her was terrible.
Because a ticket has been booked for Evenia to be forcibly removed to her native Zimbabwe on 14 August, the Leicester rallies in solidarity with Evenia will continue everyday from 1pm till 3pm under Evenia's Tree at the Town Hall Square in Leicester.
Evenia needs more people to write to their MPs and to sign the petition urging Home Secretary Theresa May and Immigration Minister Mark Harper to exercise their discretion and let her stay in Leicester with her friends, her daughters and her grandchildren.
Source - Ambrose Musiyiwa
