Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Kuwadzana East MP Chalton Hwende (CCC) has admitted that the opposition failed to support former Zengeza West legislator Job Sikhala during his prolonged pre-trial detention.
Sikhala was arrested in June 2022 and spent 595 days in custody at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
He was charged with inciting public violence following clashes that erupted in Nyatsime during the funeral of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist Moreblessing Ali, who had been murdered.
Ali was killed by Pius Jamba Mukandi, an alleged ZANU PF activist. Jamba was later convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison for mutilating Ali’s body and dumping her remains in a disused well in rural Nyatsime.
Speaking at the second launch of Sikhala’s memoir “Footprints in the Chains – The Life Story of Job Sikhala,” in Bulawayo recently, Hwende said he had attended the event to personally apologise to Sikhala for the lack of solidarity and support he received from his colleagues during his incarceration. Said Hwende:
I came here by bus to apologise. We owe it to Job Sikhala. I was the secretary general of the last united CCC and we betrayed him. We didn’t offer the solidarity that was expected by our ordinary members. And today I stand here to apologise.
If the united democratic movement had offered the same solidarity that was expected by our ordinary members, this man would not have stayed in prison for over 500 days.
During Sikhala’s imprisonment, reports surfaced suggesting he had been abandoned by the opposition. However, then CCC deputy spokesperson Gift Ostalos Siziba dismissed the claims, insisting that Sikhala was not neglected and that his family was receiving adequate support.
Speculation also swirled around a possible fallout between Sikhala and his former party leader Nelson Chamisa. But Chamisa’s presence as the guest of honour at Sikhala’s recent book launch in Harare appeared to put those rumours to rest.
For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe Follow Africa-Press
