At Chikwanha vegetable market in Chitungwiza, stalls were empty on Independence Day, with “Chipangano” monitoring the centre to ensure that no-one defied the order of the “authorities”.
Is there a political party that has the mandate to tell the people what to do on a day such as the Independence holiday?
Article 8(1)of the Global Political Agreement says: “In the interest of forging a common vision for our country, the Parties hereby agree (a) on the necessity of all Zimbabweans regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, political affiliation and religion to respect and observe Zimbabwe’s national institutions, symbols, national programmes and events.”The article does not specify whether it is mandatory for citizens to attend the events or not.
Why are our grandmothers from Zhombe, our sisters from Mutoko and our brothers in Mutorashanga being coerced into attending national events, failure of which has adverse repercussions in their respective communities?
Sofia Mapuranga
