The teachers union wanted to present a damning petition to Coltart protesting arbitrary transfer of its members from Harare metropolitan province.
Raymond Majongwe, PTUZ secretary general said police had refused to sanction the march to Coltart’s office notwithstanding the fact that the minister and his permanent secretary Constance Chigwamba — who had been formally informed in writing about the planned march — had not objected to the demonstration.
Paul Nyathi, police spokesperson, said PTUZ’s application had a lot of inadequacies in terms of the provisions of the law hence its dismissal.
“The notification was not in conformity with the provisions of the law because they did not indicate the route they were going to take and the number of participants in the intended march,†Nyathi said.
“Moreover they gave us very short notice and so we called their representative and explained this.â€
But Majongwe said his organisation had notified the police in writing in a June 12, 2013 letter in terms of the requirements of the Public Order and Security Act [Chapter 11:17].Â