Zimbabwe Elections 2013 We”re watching” campaign week 6 Report
By Justice Sibanda 6th May, 2013
The Bradford branch of the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) Zimbabwe launched the “we are watching campaign for share with members of our community in Bradford our fears that the election fraud, violence, murder and intimidation that blighted the last elections in Zimbabwe in 2008 would be repeated in the 2013 elections. It is our intention to raise awareness and get members of the public to sign a petition requesting for the United Nations to send observers to Zimbabwe to monitor the elections. We have already been out in Bradford City Center on the 6th and 20th of April.
On the 4th of May, Justice Sibanda (Organizing Secretary), Melusi Sibanda (Information & Publicity Secretary) and Peter Jaure (Secretary) took the campaign back to Bradford city center. On this occassion the aim was to request members of the public to sign a petition to their local MPs urging them to petition the Foreign Secretary William Hague directly to apply pressure on the Zimbabwean Government to allow in UN election observers. Unfortunately, the Bradford Council has since put in a condition that we can hold our campaign provided we do not approach members of the public but set up our stand and let them approach us. This proved a bit of a challenge to start with as most people seemed more concerned with doing their shopping rather than finding out what we were there for. The situation improved somewhat as afternoon approached and we managed to attract some people and get some signatures. Photos of the event are available here.
