2
HMA 36-18
HC 263/18
•
compelling teachers to make contributions in cash or kind towards the first respondent's
rallies;
•
commandeering school premises, school buses, furniture, or other property for first
respondent's political rallies;
[2]
The chief architect of that abuse was said to be the first respondent, the second
respondent being a willing agent.
[3]
The core of the applicants' evidence was a report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission, a body established in terms of s 242 of the Constitution with wide-ranging
functions that include the promotion of awareness; respect; protection; attainment and
observance of human rights at all levels of society, and the protection of the public .
against the abuse of power and any maladministration by the State; public institutions
and their officers. The report was compiled at the instance of the applicants. They had
complained to that body about the desecration of the rights of school children and
school teachers as aforesaid. The report covered the period from July 2017. It is not
clear when it was actually published. Its major findings were the following
infringements:
[4]
•
A breach of the children's right to education as enshrined ins 75 and s 81 [J][e] of the
Constitution. It was said that children periodically missed school after being forced to
attend the first respondent's rallies to provide entertainment through, among other
things, participating in provocative dances. Children were said to be exposed to hate
speeches and inflammatory language.
•
A breach of the right to freedom of assembly and association as enshrined ins 58 of the
Constitution and article 8 of the Afi·ican Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
It was said the children's attendance at the first respondent's rallies was secured without
their parents' consent or knowledge; that they were being forced to wear the first
respondent's regalia, and that not only were their teachers forced to attend those rallies
as well but also that they had to compose praise poems for recital by the children and
to mal(e financial contributions towards the costs of holding such rallies.
•
School vehicles like buses and lorries being commandeered to ferry communities to the
first respondent's rallies; school equipment, utensils and furniture such as tables, chairs
and sofas being requisitioned for those rallies.
That was the skeleton of the applicants' case. The flesh comprised sample findings.
Below are some of them: