By Audience Mutema

A High Court judge in Harare, issued an order last week allowing the National Youth Organisation (NAYO), to proceed with its demonstration against what the group says is shrinking civic space.

The order effectively overturned a police ban on the planned protest initially planned for earlier this month.

NAYO programs officer, Macdonald Munyoro confirmed that their application was granted through their legal representative the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) member Denford Halimani.

According to Munyoro the march is now scheduled for Tuesday next week.

“Yes the High Court has granted our application and we are going into the streets to exercise our rights to assembly and demonstration. We also intend to petition Parliament and this will happen next week (this week).

“In terms of specific days we are looking at either Tuesday or Wednesday,” Munyoro said Friday.

NAYO’s demonstration which was supposed to have taken place early this month was banned by the police forcing the group to seek the intervention of the courts.

The police, in a letter to the organisers of the protests argued the demonstrations could not be allowed given people were still “nursing nursing the effects of the 14-16 January 2019 demonstrations which resulted in the loss of lives and property.”

It was also argued by police that the protests were likely to be hijacked by unruly elements. But however, the High court judge dismissed the ban and granted NAYO the right to demonstrate.

Violent demonstrations broke out in January over a 150% fuel price increase that triggered massive hikes in the prices of basic commodities across the economy. At least 17 people are reported to have died after the government deployed the military.