Poet detained after reciting poem
March 21, 2009
By Raymond Maingire
HARARE – Award winning novelist and poet, Julius Chingono (63) was seized and briefly detained by police Saturday noon soon after reciting a poem which police alleged was too offensive.
The incident, which happened in front of a crowd of about 200 people, occurred just by the entrance of a police base along Harare’s First Street during a ceremony called to mark World Poetry Day, observed every March 21.
The event was organized by the Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights in collaboration with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe Chapter, both prominent campaigners for ordinary citizens’ rights and media freedom.
Chingono’s unpublished poem, “My uniform”, is about a police officer who dons his uniform each time he feels he needs to gain advantage over civilian members of society elbowing each other to buy scarce goods.
“When the bread bin is empty,” Chingono said to cheers from the crowd, “I put on my police officer’s uniform, medals dangling down my chest, to the rowdy bread queue to maintain order, to buy bread without a hassle.
Scenes of uniformed police officers scrambling to buy sugar, mealie meal, cooking oil, bread, among other scarce commodities had become common in Zimbabwe in recent months when basic commodities had completely disappeared from the shelves.
Groups of police officers and soldiers jumped meandering queues to hoard the goods which were usually pegged at prices far below those charged on the black market.
Chingono continued, “When the maize meal is low, I put on my uniform, my army officer’s uniform with a sergeants’ gold stars pinned on my shoulders to quickstep to the war line mealie meal queue, to buy the mealie meal without joining the queue.
“When the family says sugar is spent, I wear my uniform, my constabulary tunic, to march to the anxiety charged queue to suppress all dissent when I jump the queue.”
The poem also talks of an army chef who drives to a local service station on a private car to buy fuel ahead of other desperate motorists.
But hardly had the elated crowd finished congratulating the poet for his candid poetry than some police details manning the police base summoned him into the wooden structure to quiz him on the poem.
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Chingono’s poem is very good. His poem obviously touched a nerve. Well done Chingono
Let’s keep up the pressure, thanks Chingono its the bullet or the pen barrel of which the pen barrel is much stronger than a spent cartridge
Why would anyone quiz Chingono for saying something that we all see and say? That’s ludicrous because what Chingono said is public knowledge. A police force which does not understand our right to freedom of expression is dangerous. Look where we are because of that kind of ignorance. Can the MDC Minister call the police to order after all these years of trampling on our rights with impunity. If anyone wants to see criminals, watch the ZRP. This will stand until the police changes its ways.
Cowards ! That is what they will do ! Arrest a man and gag his mouth ! Yet all they have to do is plug their ears with cotton wool, if what they hear is noise to their ears ! Cowards,goons who will get annoyed on behalf of another mortal. Sad.
Am getting very confused; I thought all these silly arrests and quizzing were meant to cease with the GNU. Please Editor, if you could update the reader on what eventually happened to this fellow, it would be great.
Eish… These brothers are rough. Arresting a poet on World Poetry Day? Anyway, I hope they didnt hold the old poet for too long.
Free the Pen!
Who has the poem??? It really touched the nerves of these idiots. I think there is need to educate Chihuri about the police force. He is such an idiot. I dont see anything wrong with the poem. This time in age people being arrested for this. Its a shame on Chihuri.