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Writes Kumbirai Mafunda
The High Court has ended the 82-day detention of Jacob Ngarivhume, the leader of the opposition Transform Zimbabwe political party, by setting him free from prison on bail.
High Court Judge Justice Emilia Muchawa on Wednesday 23 October 2024 ordered that Ngarivhume should be released from prison on bail after he petitioned the court, appealing against his denial of bail by Harare Magistrate Farai Gwitima, who on Friday 23 August 2024, dismissed his freedom bid on the basis that the opposition political party leader would endanger public safety if set free.
This compelled Ngarivhume’s lawyer Godfrey Mupanga, of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, to file an appeal at the High Court seeking to set aside Magistrate Gwitima’s decision denying the opposition political party leader bail.
On Wednesday 23 October 2024, Justice Muchawa ordered the Transform Zimbabwe political party leader to pay US$100 for him to be released on bail as part of his bail conditions.
Ngarivhume had spent 82 days in both police and prison custody after he was arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers on 2 August 2024, who charged him with participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of peace or bigotry as defined in section 37(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and with disorderly conduct as defined in section 41(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
In court, prosecutors claimed that the 46-year-old Ngarivhume behaved in a riotous and disorderly manner on 16 June 2024 in Harare’s Avondale West suburb, where he together with some unnamed people, threw stones at some ZRP officers, who had raided the residence of opposition Citizens Coalition for Change political party leader, Senator Jameson Timba.
The prosecutors alleged that two ZRP officers were injured from the alleged assault while a Mahindra vehicle owned by the law enforcement agency was damaged, with the value of the damage to the vehicle being put at US$250.
