The case of Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others who were charged with treason in February and released a month later is not over yet. They still face strict bail conditions which limit their freedoms, and will appear in court on Wednesday.

Read this email from one of the detainees for more information:

We wish to thank you all for the unwavering support you gave during our time of incarceration and now as we go towards trial for the malicious charges of treason. Without your support, we could have been fodder for an angry and intolerant system. we are happy to be out on bail and take part in the day to day struggles for social economic and political democracy in the world. Only our numbers can match the might of war mongers and dictators around the world. On Wednesday the 20th of April, we appear at the Harare Rotten Row court number 6 for further remand. We may be out but the bail conditions are extremely harsh and limit our capacity to fully enroll in the struggle for democracy. it is our hope that with your full support, we will be brought to final freedom. Any actions of support are welcome and we hope to meet you at 0800hrs in court next week.

The front page of The Herald today reads: Minister Arrested. My first thought? Who now.

According to The Herald:

National Healing and Reconciliation co-Minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu (MDC) has been arrested on allegations of failing to notify police of a meeting held on Wednesday at a primary school in Lupane. . . . Mzila-Ndlovu, the deputy secretary general of the Welshman Ncube-led MDC, was arrested yesterday morning in Lupane on his way to Victoria Falls where he was supposed to address a national healing meeting.

The following statement from ZLHR shares a bit more information about the arrest, and the arrest of Father Mkandla, who was arrested for convening the healing service Mzila-Ndlovu allegedly didn’t tell the police about.

The Church under attack in Zim as police arrest pastor and MP

Police in Lupane have arrested a Catholic Priest, Father Marko Mabutho Mkandla and Bulilima West Member of Parliament Hon. Moses Mzila-Ndlovu for allegedly convening a meeting without notifying the police.

Father Mkandla, who is represented by Nosimilo Chanayiwa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Nikiwe Ncube of Webb, Low and Barry Legal Practitioners, who is also a member of ZLHR was arrested on Wednesday 13 April 2011 and charged with contravening the country’s tough security laws.

Police charged Father Mkandla with contravening Section 25 of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) after he allegedly convened a healing service at Silwane Primary School in Lupane, Matabeleland North without notifying the police.

The police also charged Father Mkandla with contravening Section 31(a) (i) of Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State and violating Section 42 (2) of Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, that is causing offence to persons of a particular race or religion.

Father Mkandla was also charged with contravening the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act for allegedly possessing pornographic material. Although the police record at Lupane Police Station showed that Father Mkandla was released on Friday 15 April 2011 and transferred to Bulawayo Police Station, his whereabouts were not known late on Friday.

On Friday 15 April 2011, the police arrested Hon. Mzila-Ndlovu. ZLHR lawyers attended to the Bulilima legislator and will attend to him again on Saturday 16 April 2011.

Meanwhile, an Associated Press story puts the two incidents together and helps make more sense of the whole thing. Except that none of it makes any sense. Arrest a priest for holding a healing service. Arrest the Minister of National Healing for attending it (and when he’s on his way to address another national healing meeting)? You can’t make things like this up, they’re so absurd.

A friend of mine recently experienced a night in remand prison in Mutare. In the same cell as her was a woman who had been on remand for 4 months. She could not raise bail of $20. My friend paid the $20 bail.

Here’s some information from the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust:

Thematic Committee on Human Rights

The Thematic Committee embarked on fact-finding visits to Mutare Central Prison, Mutimurefu Prison (Masvingo) and Whawha Prison to assess the conditions under which the prisoners were kept. The fact-finding visit was an eye-opener to Senators as they witnessed for themselves the deplorable and inhumane prison conditions. Below are some of the common highlights of the Committee’s findings;

• Uninhabitable conditions characterized by overcrowding and dilapidated infrastructure

• Plight of inmates with HIV and AIDS

• Erratic water supply

• Inadequate food provisions and poor diet

• Plight of Children of inmates

• Tattered uniforms and bed linen

• Shortage of learning materials (e.g. textbooks etc)

The Mutare Central Prison also houses refugees from five different countries including the DRC, Ivory Coast and Congo. These refugees asked Committee Members to talk to their embassies so that they could be returned to their home countries. The Committee also heard that a number of people have been on remand for a long time. The prison officials cited fuel and transport constraints as some of the reasons for the delay in getting the prisoners to court. In addition, the Committee heard that the prison also houses some mentally ill inmates.

A recent update from the MDC shares the news of Shakespeare Mukoyi‘s release, after four nights in police custody and following his assault by police. Mukoyi was arrested with fellow congregants at a prayer for peace gathering on Saturday. The others were released on Monday:

Shakespeare Mukoyi, the MDC Harare Youth Assembly vice chairperson who was arrested and beaten by police at a peace prayer church service on Saturday was released on free bail on Wednesday. He was arrested with 12 other people who were released on Monday. Mukoyi who appeared in court with a neck brace after he was seriously assaulted by the police will appear in court on 18 May. He is facing allegations of assaulting a police officer on the day he was arrested.

The Youth Forum in a recent statement remind Zimbabwe’s authoritarian government that people power might well be coming to get them.

The capture and demise of Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian despot who refused to cede power after losing an election in November 2010 is testimony to the fact that dictators will not always have their way especially when the people have had their say as the people of Ivory Coast did in November 2010. While such news will obviously attract scorn and spite from like-minded dictators and sympathizers of despotic regimes, it is indeed sweet news for the people of Ivory Coast and other pro-democracy voices across the continent and the world.

As young people in Zimbabwe, we feel very inspired by the struggle of the people of Ivory Coast and take heart to the fact that even in the face of repression of the highest order, the forces of good always triumph against evil. We also feel encouraged that Gbagbo even after having sent his envoy to Harare to get a few notes on how to stay in power after losing an election, eventually could not have it his way. His capture while holed up in his fortified bunker reminds us of the same demise of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraq strongman.

As the Youth Forum, we take this opportunity to urge our politicians in Zimbabwe to be always mindful of the fact that real power lies with the people and it is the people who always have the final say. As the country gears for elections which shall signal the end of the current inclusive government, we urge all the political players in the country to genuinely work towards ensuring that the next elections are convened in an environment that allows the people to have the final say. We also urge SADC as the guarantors of the GPA to continue tightening the screws on our political players to ensure that the next election will not be fraudulent or is not again stolen by the loser. We again urge SADC to heed the winds of change that are sweeping across the African continent, long considered as the last den of dictators. The days of African ‘dictatorship’ disguised as African ‘brotherhood’ are long gone and the world as we know it has become less tolerant of dictators.

The other day I went to Surveyor General’s office to get a 1:50 000 scale map. Like I have been doing since 1971. Same thing, walk in front door, into maps on the left, ground floor. Find index, find map sheet reference. Take it to staff, they send off to the storeroom, and along comes the map. Check it, it is the one I want, pay for it, get receipt, exit to Samora Machel. Fast, efficient, courteous, fine service.

But not this time! Service is good, as always (although there was a shortage of maps at one stage), but they won’t take my money. I have to go to the tenth floor to pay, bring back receipt. I do this. And on the way up, (the lift works, but it is slow getting there, and there are still ten floors to be lifted through), I am thinking. This is life in a dictatorship.

It is all central. Power, and authority, derive from the centre. It all must go to, and come from, the middle. Gone are the days when you could pay the clerk, check your receipt, walk out the door. ‘Authority’ no longer comes from the people. From basic morals. Common sense. Logic. ‘Authority’ only comes from the centre (from where POWER also comes). Reminds me of High School (and that is a while back) learning definitions to spice up essays with. ‘Realpolitik’ the concept that decisions are divorced from moral considerations – dictated by the necessities of power and judged only by success.

So, since the power and authority derive from the middle (where decisions are made), and not from the people (who have the needs, the wants, the common sense, the simple decency, the basic morals), or even from the rule books (constitution, legislation, codes of conduct), it follows that ‘activity’ (especially financial) must also be done in the centre. After all, we have leadership by example.

The people on the ground floor cannot handle money.