WOZA gearing for another Valentine's Day protest

The activist organisation, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), will return to the streets of the capital, Harare, on St Valentine's Day next week to demand democratic and violence-free elections in March. Under the theme, "The power of love can conquer the love of power", the women will hand out red roses and cards to symbolise their anti-violence message. Since its formation in 2003, WOZA has taken to the streets every St Valentine's Day to protest against violence in the country. "We will play our role in educating and organising women to demand the right to a free and fair election," Jenni Williams, national coordinator of WOZA, told IRIN. Elections in 2000 and 2002 were marred by political violence and intimidation, widely blamed on the ruling ZANU-PF party. Between January and September 2004, 12 people were killed because of their political beliefs, 202 were unlawfully arrested and 329 assaulted, according to the Human rights NGO Forum, a coalition of 17 NGOs. Williams denied that her organisation had a political agenda, saying it had stuck to its mandate of giving women a voice to protest the socio-political and economic hardships affecting their lives. WOZA activists, who comprise mainly informal vendors, have taken to the streets for the past two years to highlight a number of issues, including rising inflation, unemployment - now at 70 percent - and food shortages. In October 2004, WOZA undertook a 440 km sponsored walk to protest against a controversial NGO Bill, which sought to ban foreign NGOs concerned principally with "issues of governance", and deny registration to NGOs receiving foreign funding for "promotion and protection of human rights and political governance issues". Last month the women demonstrated against escalating education costs and falling standards in state schools. Police have largely treated WOZA protests as illegal 'political' gatherings. In two years of demonstrations, about 500 WOZA activists have been arrested for breaching the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), which prohibits public gatherings without police clearance. Williams currently has 16 cases pending against her in the courts. WOZA believes their exposure has helped them make inroads in the rural areas, where most Zimbabwean women live. "In the latter part of 2004, we reached out to 25 rural areas with a pilot programme, and conducted meetings with an average of 25 participants in each meeting," Williams told IRIN. In two years WOZA has evolved from an informal team of 80 voluntary campaigners to a core of about 200, with an overall membership of 5,000.