These ravenous grey haired men come to us in their white garments – Poem

The time is exactly 10:47 hrs and the day is 15 May 2020, exactly five years ago to the day. On this serene Friday morning and under a cloudless blue sky, an ambulance screeches to an agonizing halt outside Parktown Hospital near Waterfalls, some 15 kilometers south of Harare.

A petition has been launched to pressure President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government to release the 79 political activists who were arrested for allegedly holding an "unsanctioned" political gathering at a private residence in Harare.

By Luke Tamborinyoka The tragic experiences of Hon. Joanah Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova are a sad national story. Theirs has been a sordid tale of harassment, torture and abuse of the girl child that has unravelled for the past four years while the State prodded on with neither shame nor compunction. Early this week, we thought High Court Judge Justice Priscilla Munangati-Manongwa had brought an end to their sad experiences when she acquitted them on the trumped-up charges of communicating falsehoods by faking an abduction. The judge acquitted the three girls on the basis that the lower court had misdirected itself as the State had failed to prove its case in court. In acquitting the trio and setting aside the ruling of the lower court the High Court judge said: "It is not for the court to try and prop up a crumbling case. A court has to acquit in the absence of evidence........" Now we hear the National Prosecuting Authority is seeking to appeal the judgement, further embarrassing the State both locally and internationally. Dear reader, I wish to walk you through what these three girls have experienced.

The office of the Prosecutor General (PG) has announced plans to appeal a High Court decision which saw two opposition Citizens Coalition for Change activists Joanah Mamombe and Cecilia Chimbiri being acquitted on charges of communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state by allegedly faking their abduction and torture.

Human rights champion and former students’ leader Netsai Marova recently excelled in Norway after earning a Master’s Degree from the University of Agder. Marova skipped the country around 2021 after having been jointly charged with Joanna Mamombe and Cecilia Chimbiri for their involvement in protesting against what they saw as  “failure by the authorities to provide social security protection during the Covid-19 lockdowns in Zimbabwe”–and she still maintains her innocence including allegations of having faked their own abduction.