MDC vice chairperson, Job “Wiwa” Sikhala, has written to
the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) to register his fears about suspected
security agents he says are trailing him, the Daily News reports.
This comes as Sikhala and other hardliners within
Zimbabwe’s main opposition have called for radical action against President
Emmerson Mnangagwa and his government, in a bid to force them to act on the
country’s worsening economic rot.
The firebrand politician-cum-lawyer is claiming that since
his acquittal on treason charges, he is being trailed by people he suspects are
State goons.
“The write-up will serve the Law Society of Zimbabwe to
have a proper and clear perspective as requested by your honourable office, of
the current circumstances around myself.
“It is my humble submission, that as a member of the Law
Society of Zimbabwe, it is important that the society protects and safeguards
its members not to be impeded from executing their duties through political
harassment,” Sikhala said in his letter to the LSZ.
“Furthermore, the exercise of my duties as per the oath I
took when I was sworn in should be distinguished from my political convictions.
“My political life is totally and absolutely divorced and
different from my professional duties. The two do not mix. There is no
political activism in arguing a rape case in court.
“The threat to the legal profession in our country has its
precedence in countries that threw fundamental principles of the rule of law,
constitutionalism and democracy through the window,” Sikhala further said.
LSZ spokesperson Richard Chidza confirmed that the society
had received Sikhala’s letter, adding that they were looking into the matter.
Sikhala has claimed that since his acquittal on the treason
charges in February, he no longer had “a private life” due to his being trailed
“24/7” by suspected security agents.
“After my acquittal on the 14th of February, State security
agents came to OK Supermarket where we were buying groceries for my school
children, whom I wanted to visit on the 15th.
“I did not come out of my car, but they asked some people
who were around which car I was in. When my security details got wind of this,
they confronted them and they rushed to their car and drove away.
“When we left on our way to my village in Gutu, they
trailed us and when we got to Nyika, they parked right next to my vehicle at
the Highway Shops,” Sikhala told the Daily News recently.
“When we left for home, they followed us along the dusty
mountainous road to my village and it was now at night, at around 9pm.
Unbeknown to them, we had two vehicles with more than 30 people.
“When we resolved to stop our vehicles in the bush to
confront them, after switching off the lights, they made a U-turn and sped
off,” he added.
He also claimed that during the court appearance of one of
his clients in Karoi, he had been placed under heavy surveillance throughout
his time in the town, until he returned to Harare.
“I did not stay in Harare as soon as I arrived on Sunday
from the village. I had a court case to dispose of in Karoi.
“The matter was a trial which had been due for a long time,
as I was not able to attend to it because of the exigencies of the treason
trial.
“When they found out that I was at Karoi Magistrates Court,
they deployed all the CIOs and members from the military intelligence in
Mashonaland West there,” Sikhala claimed.
“I did not care and went on to cross examine the witness
the whole day on Wednesday.
“When we decided to leave after we postponed the matter to
another day, for other witnesses to come, they trailed us all the way from
Karoi to my house in Harare.
“When they flagged my driver to stop between Zvimba and
Norton, I wanted us to stop and hear what their problem was, but my driver
refused to stop,” Sikhala added.
The fearless Zengeza West legislator was arrested in
October last year on charges of subverting a constitutionally-elected
government — after he told an MDC rally in Bikita East that he would work to
overthrow Mnangagwa’s administration before the next elections that are due in
2023.
On February 3 this year, he filed an application for an
exception to the charges, arguing that the utterances he had made at the
political rally at Mandadzaka Business Centre did not constitute a crime.
Judge Garainesu
Mawadze agreed with him and acquitted Sikhala after he upheld the burly
politician’s application.
However, the State has since appealed against his
acquittal. Daily News
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