Zimbabwe opposition politician and former MP Job Sikhala has finally received freedom after a record 595 days on pre-trial remand.
A Harare magistrate has sentenced Sikhala and his co-accused, MP Godfrey Sithole, to a two-year, wholly suspended term for five years. Sithole however was released on bail after five months on remand. They were both pronounced guilty of inciting public violence.
Sikhala’s lawyers say they are appealing the judgement at the High Court.
He was arrested and charged in June 2022 for driving the violence that followed the aftermath discovery of the dismembered body of Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) activist Moreblessing Ali in a well, nearly a month after she went missing.
The sad news brought about turmoil and confusion in Ali’s Chitungwiza neighbourhood, some 30km (19 miles) south of Harare, the capital.
Sikhala, the Ali family’s legal representative, was indicted for using social media to generate violence. He however denied the charge.
Convicting the duo, the law court provided evidence that showed that Sikhala, then a member of parliament, and Sithole were behind the violence.
The courts granted Sithole bail after five months in remand, but Sikhala’s several applications for bail failed.
This raised eyebrows about Sikhala being victimized by the state. He said he had been arrested more than 60 times without a single conviction. Sikhala’s court woes are not ending any time soon.
According to his lawyer, he is still facing charges of disorderly conduct, inciting violence and publishing falsehoods.
