By GIDEON NYENDWA
Amending the Public Order Act (POA) is not necessary because there is nothing wrong with its current form but what is wrong is the interference from sitting governments, Economic Front president wynter kabimba has said.
Mr Kabimba said that sitting governments have continued abusing that law by giving instruction behind the curtain to the police to refuse to acknowledge the notification given by the people who wanted to have a meeting, especially opposition political parties.
He said that the law was abused by governments in power by preventing the police from doing the right thing even if the law was to be amended if their attitudes do not change the amendment would mean nothing.
Mr Kabimba said that it was impossible to legislate against attitude because legislation could only be done against social conditions obtaining at a particular time.
“This is more of an attitude problem than a legal lacuna,” he said.
He said that the POA does not provide that the police had to give a permit to the people that wanted to have a meeting but the police just have to acknowledge the notification given by the people who wanted to meet.
Mr Kabimba said that there was no word permit in the POA but what it said was that give the police notification of your intention to hold a meeting seven days prior to the event so that they could prepare to give them security and the police had to acknowledge the notification.
He said that the only time the police should say no was when they had not been provided with sufficient notice of seven days.
