24 June - 15 July 2015

1. Vendor evictions

Independent Media. The Zimbabwean, July 1, 2015. “Karoi vendors victims of Govt (sic) decree”

• Karoi town council demolished vendors’ shelters following a government decree for illegal vendors in the shadow economy to stop selling.
• Karoi vendors’ association coordinator Justice Charimba alleged that the town failed to provide vendors with adequate legal sites for selling goods.
• The vendors were to pay inflated fees to set up stalls owned by a councilman and a local businessman.
• In an economy where jobs are scarce, illegal vending in the shadow economy is a means of survival for many Zimbabweans.

NewsDay, July 13, 2015. “Zanu PF unmoved by vendors’ threats” by Everson Mushava

• Zanu PF appears unmoved by vendors’ threats to withhold voting for Zanu PF in the 2018 elections if the government continues evicting vendors, according to analysts.
• Analysts contend that the ruling party has three years to develop a strategy to win back the votes. The implementation of unpopular policies must come in 2015 or 2016 or otherwise wait until after the 2018 elections, said one analyst, implying that mass memory is relatively short.
• Under the Murambatsvina policy in 2005, two million Zimbabweans were left homeless shortly after elections. In sum, Zanu PF will enter into a clientelist contract with vendors and their supporters in 2017, and break their promises following the election.
  
• Grace Mugabe, who in 2014 used vendors for support in her rallies against former Vice President Joice Mujuru has kept quiet about the evictions of her supporters.

New Zimbabwe, July 5, 2015

“[Harare] Mayor warns politicians from hijacking vendor registration”

• Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni claims that Zanu PF has hijacked vendor registration in the city. The National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe (NAVUZ) complained that members were being barred from registering as traders.
• 120 out of 65,000 vendors have been allowed to register. The rest are being blocked by known Zanu PF activists, according to NAVUZ.
• Manyenyeni has said that some “politicians” are registering vendors, but it is only the city which has the right to do so. Manyenyeni has warned against registering with anyone but city officials.
• Vendors are required to register with municipal governments as of June 26 because of a government decree to do so.

State-controlled Media

The Herald, July 14, 2015. “Vendors remanded in custody” by Tendai Rupapa

• Three of 26 illegal vendors accused of assaulting municipal police officers during a vendor-eviction in Harare have been denied bail.
• The other 23 were charged with conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
• Paul Manjarira, Edwin Nyatsungo and Vusa Dzafunwa have been charged with assault.
• The three arrested for assault were denied bail in court.
• Allegedly the three were guards at the market on Speke Avenue with the responsibility of protecting the vendors’ goods.
• The lawyer of the three accused of assault argued the innocence of the guards, saying that one of them was knocked unconscious by a police officer and awoke in jail accused of assault.

2. Media crackdown

Independent Media. The Zimbabwean, July 2, 2015. “Jail term and radio station raid fuel concern in Zimbabwe” by RSF Africa

• Two recent events may indicate that Zanu PF is taking a hard-line approach to the media. A journalist has been sent to prison and a radio station raided in the course of one week.
• In 2014, Zimbabwe saw 22 press freedom violations. Reporters Without Borders has labeled Zimbabwe “Predators of Press Freedom.”
• Cléa Kahn-Sriber of Reporters Without Borders has noted that the government has acted disproportionately to alleged infractions by journalists.
• Wezhira, a community radio station in Masvingo was raided on June 29. Producer Wilson Mapoa was questioned under suspicion of broadcasting without a licence. Police threatened to close down the station and seize the equipment. They also demanded to know where the station got the funds for the broadcasting equipment.
• Patrick Chitongo was sentenced to 12 months in prison for publishing a newspaper without a permit to do so.
• Chitongo said that the three issues that he published were intended to be submitted to the commission for a permit application.
• Zimbabwe is ranked 131 out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Daily News, July 3, 2015. “Police batter photojournalist” by Jeffrey Muvundusi

• Approximately 11 police officers assaulted Crispen Ndlovu, a photojournalist, for taking photos of them assaulting a suspected thief in Bulawayo.
• Ndlovu claimed that the police assaulted him after realizing that they had been caught in the act.
• Police continued to beat Ndlovu despite the fact that he produced his press accreditation card. Police deleted the photos, but Ndlovu says the camara can easily recover the digital pictures.
• Ndlovu was treated at the loc al hospital for an injured arm and has filed a complaint at the Bulawayo Central Police Station.

*State-controlled media did not report on this subject.

3. Grace Mugabe going too far

Independent Media

NewsDay, July 3, 2015“Grace overstepping the boundaries”

• Although first lady Grace Mugabe holds no constitutional role, the wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is ostensibly giving orders to the country’s two vice presidents: Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko.
• At a speech to thousands at a housing project in Kadoma, Grace allegedly stated that the two vice presidents will do as they are told.
• Such Remarks cast doubt on the capacities and power of President Mugabe. Neither her ceremonial role as first lady, nor her position as women’s affairs boss give her the authority to take on the role she has been playing in the Zimbabwean government.

*State-controlled media did not report on this subject.