‘I went to jail a married man, came back a bachelor’ – Madzokere

By Nyashadzashe Ndoro | Nehanda Politics |

MDC activist Tungamirai Madzokere, who was wrongly jailed for eight years together with his colleague Last Maengahama, is beginning life after he found his impatient wife gone together with his children and property.

Maengahama and Madzokere were acquitted last week after spending eight years of their 20-year jail term jailed at the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.

Maengahama who was a national executive member of the MDC and Madzokere who was a Harare City councillor were charged with murdering police officer Petros Mutedza in Glen View, Harare in 2011.

The two were represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) lawyers Beatrice Mtetwa and Charles Kwaramba.

Addressing journalists at ZLHR headquarters in Harare, Madzokere said he was let down by his wife after she went away with everything including the property. He however, said he did not blame the “young” woman whom he said needed more time to enjoy marriage.

“Of course I don’t blame her because she stood with me for a long time. As a young woman maybe she lost hope as someone who would want to enjoy marriage. So, I just found her gone with everything including property. I do not have anything right now. As you can see, I’m very down.

“I haven’t seen my children as well. I was expecting joy when I got home but my relatives told me that they were afraid to tell me when I was in jail. But it’s something that happened recently, in November last year. I went to jail as a married man and came back as a bachelor,” he said.

Maengahama also said the case against them was politicised, hence delaying the delivery of justice. He added that if justice was served, he would not have been incarcerated for eight years at first.

“Our justice system leaves a lot to be desired. This matter has been politicised. If it wasn’t, a person like me was supposed to be released at the police station because it was very clear with the police officers who arrested me that I had nothing to do with this case.

“I was the first person to be arrested but I’m not the first accused because initially they had decided that there is no need for me to appear even at the initial appearance but when their bosses then came they then say because of my name ‘don’t you know this one? This is Last Maengahama ndovanhu vacho ivava you can’t let him go’. So the matter was politicised from the word go,” he said.