Zimbabwe opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume granted bail

02 Septembre 2020

Harare, Zimbabwe, September 2 (Infosplusgabon)  - Jailed Zimbabwe opposition leader, Jacob Ngarivhume, of the Transform Zimbabwe party has finally been granted ZWL50,000 (US$600.10) bail by the High Court of Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

On the microblogging website, Twitter, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) confirmed Ngarivhume’s bail had been granted after he was arrested and incarcerated on July 26.

“Justice Siyabona Musithu has ended the detention Transform Zimbabwe party leader Jacob Ngarivhume by granting him ZWL50 000 bail, barring him from sharing messages on Twitter, ordering him to report three times per week to @PoliceZimbabwe & also to surrender his passport.”

In his judgement, read by another High Court judge Tawanda Chitapi, Musithu said "the court holds that the Harare Magistrate erred" in denying Ngarivhume bail each time he had applied.

Ngarivhume’s release comes amid mounting pressure from civic, opposition and international groups as well as foreign governments over Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s refusal to deal with worsening human rights abuses by state agents.

In a statement on Monday, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) under its Africa Agenda, emphasised the importance of envoys in engaging all stakeholders in Zimbabwe to assist in addressing the deteriorating political, social and economic situation.

It stated: “ANC and government processes must complement each other. The NEC (ANC National Executive Committee) supported greater party-to-party interaction between the ANC and ZANU-PF (ruling party in Zimbabwe) with the intention to develop a fuller understanding of the situation in Zimbabwe and to determine how the ANC and government can assist. It was also agreed that the ANC must speak to all parties and stakeholders as well.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had previously appointed two envoys, namely, Dr Sydney Mufamadi and Baleka Mbete to Zimbabwe last month following the viral campaign #ZimbabweLivesMatter.

The purpose of the envoys' visit was to engage Mnangagwa and his government, main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change Alliance and civic groups on finding a solution to the worsening political, social and economic situation.

However, Mnangagwa prevented the envoys from visiting the opposition and civic groups forcing them to return to South Africa without achieving their goals.

Mufamadi is a South African politician and was Minister of Safety and Security from 1994 to 1999 and Minister of Provincial and Local Government from 1999 to 2008.

Mbete, also a South African politician, served as Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from May 2014 to May 2019. She was previously Speaker of the National Assembly from 2004 to 2008, and South African Vice President from 2008 to 2009 under Kgalema Motlanthe.

While Ngarivhume has been granted bail,  investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono is still languishing at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison with his health deteriorating daily.

Chin'ono was arrested on July 26 and charged with allegedly inciting public violence.

Calls for his release from foreign governments, local opposition parties and civic groups as well as international organisations have also increased.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/TFG/GABON2020

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