By Daniel Itai.
Harare, Zimbabwe (News of The South) – Zimbabwe’s President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has signed the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPA) into law, which replaces the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).
Over the past several months, there has been a heated debate on the new law between the opposition and the ruling party.
Under POSA, members of the public were not allowed to fully exercise their right to demonstrate, but the new law accords them the right to do so according to Mnangagwa.
"We now have a new law. We have removed POSA and it has been replaced by what we call MOPA. I signed MOPA into law," revealed the Zimbabwean President yesterday in Mahusekwa.
Prior to this announcement, legal expert Chris Mhike said, "nothing in MOPA seriously advances the right to personal security, freedom to demonstrate and petition, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, or other pertinent rights and freedoms that are outlined in Chapter 4 of our Constitution."
MDC Alliance legislator Innocent Gonese, also weighed in his opinion, “there are no changes at all in this new Act compared to POSA.
Actually, the changes are just cosmetic and it is very similar to the previous law POSA, because we will still have the same problems of criminalisation and abuse of people who fail to notify the police when they engage in demonstrations or gatherings.”
The new Act provides mechanisms that ensure maintenance of peace and order during demonstrations or any public gatherings, among other provisions.
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