By Leonnel Mhuka
“Our ultimate goal as a movement is to remove Zanu-PF,” Hon. Job Sikhala speaks as he encourages community leaders and those who aspired to represent the citizens to spend time in communities. Hon. Sikhala was arrested in June last year and has been in pretrial detention for more than 293 days. For obvious reasons of persecuting him and treating him as a political prisoner, ZanuPF has managed to influence the judiciary system and the prison services to impose harsh conditions on him.
The courts have kept postponing and delaying his trial, while the Prisons Services have removed him from remand cells to a place where convicted dangerous criminals are kept at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
The opposition in Zimbabwe and all progressive citizens have castigated Zanu-PF for manipulating state institutions to persecute political opponents. International, regional, and local organizations, including SADC, have, on numerous occasions, called for the unconditional release of Hon. Sikhala. Since 2017, when Emerson Mnangagwa took over from the then-president Robert Mugabe in a military coup, the number of arrested opposition members has increased, with almost all Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) top leaders are either on remand, convicted, or acquitted by the courts.
Due to these ongoing arbitrary arrests and violations of human rights, among other reasons, theย observer missions, mainly SADC and AU, concluded that the August 23 election was not conducted in a manner that fulfills the requirements of the Electoral Act and the constitution of Zimbabwe. They further said the election could not fulfill the requirements of the principles and guidelines that govern democratic elections of SADC member states.
It is for the above-mentioned concerns that the Citizens Coalition for Change and President Nelson Chamisa are leading the call for a fresh, free, fair, and transparent election in Zimbabwe.
Watch the video of Hon. Sikhala speaking here
