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Chief Kasekete orders day light robbery in a politically motivated
act of malice
Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR)
May 12, 2010
At the height
of indescribable act of day light robbery motivated by malign and
greed on the part of traditional leaders, on the 4th of May Chief
Kasekete of Muzarabani ordered a group of ten marauding descendants
to forcibly take three beast, two goats and two chickens from a
Machimbidzofa family of Kagoda village. The livestock were taken
as payment for allegedly insulting a ZANU PF supporter and war veteran
Andrew Chiwere.
Andrew Chiwere is believed
to have connived with Chief Kasekete to have two brothers Alfred
and Benjamin Machimbidzofa arrested by the police on allegations
that the two insulted him and threw stones at his house. The two
brothers deny the charges and accuse the controversial chief, of
abusing his office to sway the course of justice in order to vindictively
punish them because they are supporters of the MDC party.
After the chief lobbied
for the arrest of the Machimbidzofa brothers, as if that was not
enough he deployed a team of his supposed police to inflict further
pain by sanctioning day light robbery of livestock belonging to
the mother of the two brothers. By the time of reporting the case
to ROHR Zimbabwe, Chief Kasekete had already sold one of the beasts
as payment for his agents in confiscating the livestock and the
other two beasts were handed to Chiwere to sell. The selling of
the beast was fast tracked defying even the legal procedures and
laid down protocols which govern the theft of livestock in rural
areas.
Among the group of the
people who were identified who came to steal the livestock were
Andrew Chiwere himself, herdman Kagoda, Robert Chaerera, Kurauone
Chiwere and one madzibaba Brian.
Reporting their case
to ROHR Zimbabwe, the brothers broke into tears narrating their
ordeal in the hands of callous chief. They said after the beasts
were taken the chief ordered their arrest and they were locked up
for a further two days without food and water at a nearby police
camp.
Alfred and Benjamin
are both victims of political
violence during the reign of terror of 2008. Their houses were
burnt and at one time they were severely beaten by youth militia
at the behest of Andrew Chiwere. They accuse Chiwere of spearheading
the terror in Kagoda village, mobilizing youth militia and directing
uniformed forces to brutalize people during the election period
in 2008.
Speaking to ROHR Zimbabwe,
Agreement Kagura the Muzarabani North district secretary said the
problem is that the chief is a ZANU PF supporter and he is fighting
his battle to destroy the MDC party in Muzarabani. He further went
on to reveal that the self confessed ardent supporter of ZANU PF
chief is abusing public forums in which he calls for meetings to
carry out ZANU PF party business to the dismay of other villagers
who support other parties of their choice.
In another separate
incident chief Kasekete held a meeting in March in which he gathered
all the herdsmen in Muzarabani and instructed the church leaders
of all church groups to bar supporters of MDC from attending church
or face the wrath of violence
As ROHR Zimbabwe
we are greatly perturbed by the magnitude of the corrupt leadership
exhibited by a person of a chief in the name of Kasekete. His position
warrants him to be an independent officer who should facilitate
the provision of justice among his people but regrettably he has
become a law unto himself to abuse his office to robe the poor,
enrich himself through elicit means, suppress victims and distort
the course of justice. AS ROHR Zimbabwe we reiterate that chief
Kasekete's activities are not only illegal but they are tantamount
to undermining the agreements of the GPA
under section 13 which state that the three political parties agreed
to 'ensuring the neutrality of traditional leaders and ensure
that they do not engage in partisan political activities at the
national level as well as in their communities.
ROHR Zimbabwe is committed
to campaigning for retributive and restorative justice to take place
in the criminal offence committed by chief Kasekete as matter of
principle because if such acts of impunity are allowed to flourish
they will set a dangerous precedence within the community as a reference
point for further gross abuse of rights of innocent people.
During this time of hardship
in which most families are struggling with livelihood support after
they lost their property and livestock to terror of 2008, it is
unthinkable that as a leader you continue to take from the poor.
It is a mockery to a person's capacity as a leader and it
reflects badly on the political party that he represents something
which is even more damnable to why the liberation war liberators
fought for during the Ian Smith regime.
It is regrettable that
the National Healing process stands averse to some intransigent
forces in ZANU PF party supporters who are still bent on reversing
the efforts being made under the transition period which should
lead to democratic elections to enable people to elect a legitimate
government of their choice without fear of repression.
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the ROHR fact
sheet
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