Day 151: Family remember Itai Dzamara on his 36th birthday

HARARE – The family of abducted journalist Itai Dzamara on Friday held a commemoration event at the Africa Unity Square, on a day that marks his 36th birthday. Several riot police were deployed at the Square.

Dzamara was abducted from a barbershop on the 9th of March this year and has been missing for 151 days. He was the fearless leader of the Occupy Africa Unity Square movement that called on President Robert Mugabe to resign and make way for interim administration that would drag the country out of its crisis.

His brother Patson Dzamara said “although I am happy to have shared the same womb with such a phenomenal man, today is not a happy day. His birthday is a stark reminder to us that he is not here for us to share this time as a family.”

Patson put on a brave face saying “we remember Itai today and we celebrate his life even though he is still in the hands of evil men and women. We have faith that God is watching over him and pray His Will is to reunite us.”

“It has been a surreal five months during which we have had to carry on with life without knowing Itai’s whereabouts or his circumstances. The physical difficulties of his absence are dwarfed by the emotional pain of dealing with this gap in our lives,” Patson said.

“We had never imagined he would be taken from us for so long, but despite our heavy hearts, we cling to hope. Surely the righteousness of his cause and the strength of his spirit will lead to his return.”

“As much as we as a family suffer from his absence more than anybody, we acknowledge that Itai’s disappearance has become a national issue, and we call on Zimbabweans, the very same people my brother struggled on behalf of, to join us in our outrage and pain. We say “Let Itai Dzamara be returned to us”.

“And more than that, we say “Let this never happen again in our country.” We continue to demand justice in the form of a no-holds-barred investigation that will locate and return Itai Dzamara,” Patson added.