Police disrupted Walpe workshop

SIMBARASHE MTEMBO
MIRROR REPORTER

MASVINGO – The Mirror stands by its story that Gutu officer-in-charge Cames Myambo disrupted a workshop of Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (Walpe) on June 14, 2024, even when he had no right to do so.
The affected organization (Walpe) issued a statement on its X handle disputing allegations of disruption. The Mirror and participants will however not change their statements on the disrupted workshop.
“Walpe would like to put it on record that Police did not disrupt a youth leadership training workshop it conducted on 14 June 2024 in Gutu.
“The Police came to the venue, inquired about an MOU then they left, they then came back again later and remained outside until the workshop ended at 4 pm contrary to what The Mirror stated in their article,” reads part of an Welpa X thread.
The dictionary meaning of disruption is “to interrupt an event, an activity or a process by causing a disturbance or a problem”.
The behaviour of Police led by Myambo is consistent with the dictionary meaning.
The episode of the story is that Gutu CID pitched up at the venue of the workshop at around 10am. They entered the workshop, asked for the organisers, took them out and spent sometime taking their personal details.
They also demanded to see the organisation’s Memorandum of Understanding and according to Lloyd Mupfudze who is Gutu United Residents and Ratepayers Association (GURRA) executive director, Police has no right to demand such documents.
“Police has no authority to demand MOUs from civil Society Organisations or NGOs
“In terms of Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPA) Chapter 11:23 meeting of an organization held at any private place, whether or not it is wholly or partly in the open is not a public meeting. Therefore, there is no requirement to notify the Police. The presence of the Police, questioning, profiling people was undue interference and intimidatory. The meeting ended prematurely around 12 mid-day,” said Mupfudze who was one of the organisers.
After the departure of the CID, Myambo and a team of Police officers turned up around 12 mid-day. He ordered out the organisers from the workshop and took them to one of the guest rooms. Myambo like the earlier officers demanded their particulars and MOU.
Myambo then left the guest room and went outside to make long calls. He was overheard calling his superiors and asking them how to proceed. One of the persons that he was allegedly heard calling is Gutu District Development Coordinator (DDC) Chiedza Taferi to verify Gurra’s MOU.
According to Gurra, it was after those long calls that Myambo ordered that meeting to be stopped at once.
A Welpa source who declined to be named however said Muyambo ordered the workshop to close and everyone to leave after a few hours.
Police spokesperson, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said he was looking into the issue when the Mirror called him last week. Myambo is notorious for violating human rights and he features prominently in a 21-page April 2023 Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) report on Administrative justice.
He together with his former boss, Masvingo West Dispol, Taurai Mambure who has since left the Police feature prominently in the report for violating complainants’ rights to administrative justice.
Myambo has even been going around asking social soccer clubs to clear with his office for them to play football. He brought riot Police to disrupt social games at Chinanaira Township and other places in the district.
He later told concerned parties that he was getting instructions from his then boss Mambure.
There have been complaints that he takes instructions from Zanu PF politicians to the extent that he doesn’t arrest ruling party members when they commit crimes. This is also noted in the ZHRC report.