11th July 2021

On Saturday 10th of July 2021, the North Branch of the UK Chapter of ROHR Zimbabwe held their monthly meeting on the Zoom platform from 14:10 till 16:00. Vice-Chairperson of North Branch, Nontokozo Malaba Ncube chaired the meeting.

Minutes taken and typed by Vengai Mutsawu

Attendance:
Vengai Mutsawu (North Branch Chairperson), Nontokozo Malaba Ncube (North Branch Vice-Chairperson), Karen Nhakaniso (North Branch Secretary), Margret Tashayawedu (North Branch Vice-Secretary), Omega Mpofu (North Branch Treasurer), Estery Dliwayo (North Branch Organising Secretary), Delina Mutyambizi (North Branch), Panyika Karimanzira (Midlands Branch), Grace Makoni (Midlands Branch and National Treasurer), Vongayi Mufara (Scotland Branch and National Information and Publicity Secretary), Blessing Goronga (Midlands Branch), Thabani Muleya Dube (South Branch), Edineth Mtengwa (Scotland Branch), Silvanos Mudzvova, Florence Mangisi, Malvern Dengu

Apologies: – None

Welcome; Chair Nontokozo Malaba Ncube welcomed all members present and members from other branches and thanked them for joining Zoom online meeting.

Matters arising from previous meeting

  • Amnesty referral letter for Noxolo is now written, only waiting for approval.
  • The letter to the US Embassy in Harare about the Tapiwa Makore case – yet to be completed.
  • Fundraising for various projects – members were encouraged to start paying their pledges into the branch bank account so that PPE project can be executed. Estery Dliwayo confirmed she has 2000 masks ready to go to Harare hospital.

Deliberations:
More pledges to fund projects -The Chair asked for more donations to enable completion of overdue projects. Members from other branches are willing to donate for the cause.

Attendance/Duties
Delina encouraged all portfolio holders to perform their duties as required. Anyone not performing or attending meeting will be relieved of their portfolios. This was also seconded by Mr Panyika Karimanzira who emphasised the fact that we should stand firm on portfolio holders who are not performing their duties. Committee was advised to call for an urgent meeting as soon as they realised a member of the branch executive committee is lacking in commitment and is not executing his / her responsibilities to resolve the matter. This was also seconded by Thabani Muleya from South Branch.

Human Rights updates

Impeding Deportations / Removals
Delina raised a very disturbing human right violation of Zimbabweans who are facing deportation from the UK. Claiming asylum is a human right and it is for protection to save lives. Something really needs to be done about this issue as soon as possible. Mr Panyika Karimanzira updated the meeting about deliberations of a cross-organization meeting he had attended earlier on to discuss the same matter. This meeting was so concerned about Zimbabweans being returned to the country they ran away from after being persecuted by state machinery. Delina encouraged all members to participate in this urgent matter. UK Chapter to discuss the issue.
The meeting nominated Silvanos to represent ROHR Zimbabwe in the cross-organization committee meeting to look into this urgent issue. The committee will include delegates from UK Chapters / Provinces of MDCA, ROHR Zimbabwe, ZHRO and ZAPU.

Demolition of houses in Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean government continues with its ruthless demolitions of citizens’ houses. Residence of Harare and other cities are being left homeless in the middle of winter. These demolitions are now extending to rural areas targeting structures of anyone from the opposition party to ZANU-PF. Zimbabwean government continues to violet its people’s human rights.
Everyone is advised to raise their voice against this evil act. Let’s set up a hush tag to campaign against these demolitions. Members were encouraged to campaign under this hush tags;
#StopDemolitions
#ZimbabweanLivesMatter

Any Other Business
Vengai raised the matter of the arbitrary arrest of Netsai Marova at a time of her father’s funeral. This shows how ruthless the regime is, to violet someone’s rights at a time she is grieving.
Omega Mpofu and Panyika Karimanzira officially announced their relocation to the Midlands. As such they now officially belong to the Midlands Branch. Omega will only be excused from her role as North Branch Treasurer once the branch executive committee had found a suitable replacement.

All agenda items and any other business having been exhausted, Vengai Mutsawu thanked everyone for attending and declared the meeting closed at 1600hrs.

To view pictures taken at the event, follow this link.

By: Information & Publicity Department