By Alex Bell
A Chiredzi man arrested last year for allegedly ‘undermining’ the authority of the President after hitting an image of Robert Mugabe has been convicted by a local magistrate.
Magistrate Honest Musiiwa last Friday convicted 36 year old Regis Kandawasvika after finding him guilty of contravening Zimbabwe’s notorious ‘insult’ laws, used repeatedly to clamp down on dissenting voices in the country.
Magistrate Musiiwa fined Kandawasvika $150 for committing the offence, with a warning that he faces 60 days in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
Kandawasvika was arrested last October after he allegedly struck Mugabe’s portrait in a bar. According to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) Kandawasvika was displaying frustration over failing to secure employment.
He was charged with contravening the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act after he allegedly held Mugabe accountable for not being able to find work, despite his impressive academic achievements.
According to State prosecutors, Kandawasvika used his fist to hit the ZANU PF leader’s portrait, which was hanging in Khomanani Bar in Tshovani high density suburb on 2nd October 2012, after protesting against his unemployment. The incident followed a verbal altercation with a security guard at the bar over political affiliation.
Kandawasvika reportedly said: “Ndiri kutambura nokuda kwehutongi hwezimudhara iri Robert Mugabe. Ndine masabhujekiti six pa”O” Level kasi handina basa rekuita. Handidi kana kumboriona zimudhara irori. Ikozvino gwendo runo riri kuenda kamwe chete”, which the police translated to mean: “I am suffering because of the ruling of this old man Cde Robert Mugabe. I have six “O” level subjects but I have no job. I don’t want to see this old man. This time he is going one way.”
After making these comments, prosecutors claim that Kandawasvika then picked up bottle tops from the floor and threw them at Mugabe’s portrait three times. He then hit the portrait with a pool cue. He was arrested after the security guard reported the incident to the police.
The ZLHR said in statement that it has dealt with more than 70 cases where the ‘insult’ laws have been broken in the past four years.
“Since 2010, ZLHR has attended to more than 70 cases where clients have fallen foul of Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which State authorities routinely invoke against political and human rights activists including ordinary Zimbabweans for allegedly making seemingly innocuous jokes about the country’s long serving ruler,” the ZLHR said. SW Radio Africa
Discover more from Nehanda Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
