Family statement on Itai Dzamara abduction

Dzamara family statement on the abduction of Itai Dzamara

*It’s not easy for us but we are hopeful (Bring Back itai Dzamara)

Harare, 16 March 2015

Today marks a week ever since the disappearance of Itai Dzamara. By now, as a family we hoped to have made headway in the search for our son, brother and father.

Unfortunately, we can categorically confirm that in spite of all our efforts in partnership with our legal team to locate Itai Dzamara or to at least gain knowledge as to what really transpired after his abduction no tangible movement has been registered thus far.

As a family we do not know where he is. We can only assume. The past week has certainly been one of the most tumultuous and tormenting week for us as a family. We admit that we are dealing with an unsmiling and complex situation.

With that in mind, we are eternally grateful for the support we continue to receive from many individuals and organizations. We do not take it lightly.

Itai Peace kadiki Dzamara was abducted on Monday the 9th of March from a barber’s shop in his neighborhood by five men, who handcuffed him and accused him of stock theft. These same men had been noticed roaming Itai’s neighborhood in two vehicles.

We still hold on to hope even though the worst is indeed a possibility. We keep on praying. There has been a lot of rumors, versions and theories promulgated by various individuals or media outlets, some of which are certainly malicious lies.

Nevertheless, we give it to them. They are entitled to their positions. Meanwhile, as a family we keep our minds and focus stayed on the mission of finding Itai. As a family we are not omniscient, we are also seeking to know what transpired.

As such, we can’t confirm any of those rumors, versions and theories at this point in time. We reject them. We have engaged our legal team over those and it is our hope that those responsible will be made to account.

We are in no way illusioned as to the humanity of Itai. As a human being Itai has had his own fair share of failure along the trajectory of his life and purpose but we are thoroughly convinced that his missing transcends his humanity and the frailties thereof.

We perceive a bigger hand in this and we unequivocally reject the notion that this is a grandstanding effort masterminded by him and his colleagues. That is not true. The bottom line is that we do not know where Itai is. It seems as though some people know where he is and we are appealing to them and the State to help us find Itai.

We are certainly not enjoying this period. It is hard for us. This is not a joke. We believe if there is anyone out there who genuinely has any information or theory regarding his whereabouts, he or she as a responsible citizen must approach the authorities and assist with information.

For as long as such people are not prepared to make their information available to us and the police then their stories must be rejected with the uttermost contempt.

In our interactions with the police, they remained adamant that they do not have a hand in this and that they do not know where Itai is. We are not sure about that but they have so far been cooperative in our quest to find Itai.

However and in spite of that, we still stick to our suspicion that Itai’s abduction was done from a position of authority. We do not know who exactly, how exactly but we still hold strongly to the view that a hand of authority was involved.

We are appealing to the conscience of our government and all Zimbabweans to help us in our quest to find one of our own, Itai Dzamara.

Bring Back Itai Dzamara

On behalf of the Dzamara family

Dr. Patson Dzamara