Job Sikhala, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
national vice-chairperson who is also Member of Parliament for Zengeza West, is
set to appear before the High Court in Masvingo next week to face charges of
treason. The outspoken Sikhala was arrested in July last year following
utterances he made at a rally in Bikita, where he said his party would roll out
demonstrations that would remove President Emmerson Mnangagwa from power before
the 2023 elections. He was charged with subverting a constitutional government
as defined in section 22(2)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act. Sikhala becomes the 21st person to have been charged with treason
since Mnangagwa came to power through a coup in November 2017.
Sikhala said on that day: “We are a committed leadership
that will give Zanu PF headaches and [Amos] Chibaya was not lying or joking
about the war and fight we are going to take to the doorsteps of Emmerson
Mnangagwa. We are going to overthrow him before 2023, that is not a joke.”
Next week Sikhala (JS) will stand trial for uttering those
words and The Standard (TS) had an opportunity to speak to him yesterday about
this and other issues. Below are excerpts from the interview.
TS: Your treason trial opens next week in Masvingo. How do
you feel? Are you not afraid?
JS: When you live your life for the common good of the
people you don’t put personal fears as the determinant factor to influence your
true beliefs. Personal fears can only be put on the table when facing
persecution by the oppressor, by the conscience of dishonesty. I am not in
pursuit of public good in pretence. I mean every word I say and mean every
action I take in life. I strongly believe in a dream of leadership genuity and
honest to conscience. Strong character is the hallmark of honesty and our
country needs men and women who are prepared for any consequences for their
beliefs. Oppression has been nurtured and bred in our country through the use
and application of fear as the foundation of our political jurisprudence and
oppressors enjoyed it to the hilt when they harvested the proceeds of fear. The
destination of our country should not be arrived on the basis of fear, but
reality of the state of affairs. Let those who allow fear to reign in their
decisions enjoy in their comfort zones and leave those who believe in
truthfulness pursue their dreams without distraction.
TS: How is your family taking it?
JS: My family has witnessed all the hell on earth since
time immemorial. I don’t talk to my wife about political issues. She is a
spectator in shock and sometimes does not understand me. What I like is her
non-interference with my beliefs. What shocked me is a question I got from one
of my sons when I went to collect him from school. He asked me if Fred (a young
lawyer at Sikhala’s law firm) would give them money for school fees if I was
sent to prison. I just laughed because I did not have an answer for him. He said
he had been told at his school that I was going to be sent to jail. Deep down
my heart, my family is as good as any other suffering Zimbabwean. Selfishness
is not part of my portion. Every Zimbabwean should be happy for my family to be
able to also enjoy life.
In the circumstances obtaining, we are all equal in
suffering.
TS: Are you happy, confident of receiving a fair trial?
JS: The right to a fair trial is the expectation of us all.
I don’t want to appropriate the divinity of prophets as to whether I will get a
fair trial or not. We leave it and be witnesses to the process. I am a legal
practitioner and well acquainted with the dictums of a fair trial as provided
for in terms of Section 69 of the Constitution. It is one of those unlimited
rights. I will observe it by myself whether the trial will be in conformity
with the dictates of a fair trial or not. I don’t need an interpreter. I will
give my verdict after the whole trial. Let’s leave it to those ordained with
the spirit of prophecy to know in
advance whether I will face a fair trial or not. At present I have no opinion.
TS: Are you happy with the support you’re receiving from
your party, the MDC, what kind of support are you getting?
JS: The situation I am in is the same as that of someone
one in mourning and bereavement. It is unheard of anywhere in the world to hear
the bereaved going door-to-door begging for and calling for people to mourn
with: “kuti ndafirwawo huyai mucheme neni.” Those who want to mourn with you
will come uninvited. However, like at every funeral some will rejoice at the
misfortunes that would have befallen you while others mourn genuinely with you.
Let those who are with me do it without fear, coercion or intimidation. Let
those who do not want to do so go ahead and celebrate and rejoice. It’s a
democratic society that we all seek to create in our country. You can only be a
fool of astonishing magnitude to expect everyone to mourn with you during your
difficult times.
TS: There are reports that you have been mobilising people
to attend your court case tomorrow and to demonstrate in your support. How true
is this?
JS: When ridiculousness is celebrated you must expect such
claims from detractors. When I was arrested for this very case last year,
thousands of Zimbabweans of goodwill stood with me, including those far off in
the land of the aliens. Did I mobilise them? The political consciousness does not
need to mobilise anyone. The people of Zimbabwe always stand for the truth. The
truth is so embedded in our people that they know what they want. It is naivety
that possesses those in authority to take Zimbabweans for granted. Respect them
and you will understand them better. They don’t need to be mobilised by anyone.
TS: There have been reports that there are widening
fissures within the MDC and that these are around the growing exasperation and
impatience that the MDC membership are having with the party. The generality of
the membership is said to be fed up with the leadership’s alleged softly,
softly approach to the crisis gripping the country. The reports go further to
claim that there is agitation for Chamisa’s replacement with more combative characters.
Tendai Biti’s name and yours feature prominently in the alternative proposals.
Would you like to comment?
JS: Let those who live in the world of make-believe believe
their fantasies and illusions. This party witnessed several splits generated by
such rumour mongering. And once bitten-twice shy. We will never ever be divided
by such cheap talk again. There is unquestionable loyalty to the leadership and
presidency of Advocate Nelson Chamisa. Let the alternative speakers continue
drafting their illusionary alternatives. We are one and no one will break us.
Standard
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