INSTILLING FEAR
Careful what you wish for!
‘Don’t mess with the regime!’
This is the message the ruling Zanu PF seems to be putting across as prominent opposition figure and Member of Parliament, Job Sikhala, continues to languish in prison
Sikhala was jailed on June 14th and has been denied bail eight times. He is accused of inciting public violence over the murder of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist, Moreblessing Ali. He is jointly charged with a fellow CCC MP and 14 residents of a suburb where Ali lived.
Sikhala also faces a separate charge of obstructing the course of justice as he implicated Zanu PF in Ali’s murder.
Some people are of the view that Sikhala deserves what he is going through as he provoked and dared the ruling party and President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in particular, to arrest him.
I can’t agree more with this school of thought as I also feel the opposition MP got overly emotional, if not ‘excited’, when addressing people who had gathered at Ali’s funeral.
I must say, though, that I didn’t think they would punish him to this extent, jailing him for so long without going for trial.
While this matter is before court, it is known that our judicial system is not independent and that, in cases like these, magistrates and judges obviously get instructions from political offices.
So, basically, Sikhala is being denied bail because of his political affiliation and for provoking the ruling party.
He may have been a hero then as people applauded him when he dared the authorities to come after him, saying he was not afraid of anything or anyone.
And now that they indeed came after him and his bail applications continue to be turned down, I am sure he is regretting his not-so-heroic stunts. Sometimes it’s just not necessary at all to poke the enemy in the eye.
Chikurubi Maximum Prison is known for its inhumane conditions. One can only imagine how life has been for the feisty politician, who has been reduced to a hardcore prisoner for five months now.
The other message in this case, of course, is that opposition activists should tread carefully as we approach elections or they also risk imprisonment. Sikhala’s lawyers have said they fear that he will be in prison till after next year’s election just to ‘sort him out’; it wouldn’t come as a surprise as anything is possible in this country.