adminThe 48-year-old MDC-T chairperson for Insiza South, Norman Sibanda, was on Tuesday arraigned before Gwanda magistrate Ms Sheila Nazombe for contravening Section 25 (5) of Public Order and Security Act Chapter 11.17 by failing to notify authorities of his intention to hold a public gathering.
The court heard that on Saturday last week, Sibanda convened an MDC-T meeting in which 33 people attended without the knowledge of the police at Silalatshani at about 3.30pm.
Leading the State was Mr Mazwi Goto who told the court that the matter came to light when police officers who were on patrol on that day stumbled upon the meeting.
On verification, it was determined that Sibanda had not notified the relevant authorities about the meeting leading to his arrest.
The court further heard that Sibanda had no right to hold the meeting without the police’s consent and was therefore charged with failure to notify regulating authorities of his intentions to host a meeting at his homestead.
Ms Nazombe remanded Sibanda out of custody on his own cognisance and would appear in court for trial on 5 March.
Posa was enacted to maintain public order and security in the country.
Online Reporter