The perpetrators who came for me at dawn on December 3,
2008 included police officers. My son identified one of the
perpetrators who was later identified as a police officer in
court. These are the same police officers who professed
ignorance of what had happened to me when a report was
made. They even placed an advert for missing persons
including my fellow colleagues at ZPP also victims of
abduction and torture (Broderick Takawira and Pascal
Gonzo) in a local newspaper. The secret house in Braeside
where I was held for 21 days is in close proximity of a police
camp. When on December 22, 2008 I was handed to the
police the drive from the secret house to Braeside police
station was brief. I was supposed to be detained there
although I was not supposed to be recorded in the
detention book as having been detained there. The police
officers were under strict instructions not to allow anyone
be it family or lawyers to have access to me. The police
knew about this assignment which involved other security
agents. They knew the people who brought me in but they
decided to remain tight lipped. They detained me knowing
fully well my family was anxious to know my whereabouts.
Years after this ordeal, a settlement of RTGS 150 000 was
consented to. The award was devalued by a Statutory
Instrument that put 1 USD equivalent to 1 RTGS. I did say
no amount of money would heal the wounds inflicted by
the harrowing experience but was a good precedent. The
dreadful experience snatched me away from my son and
the rest of the family many of whom thought I had been
killed. Unfortunately, December 3 comes every year and as
the years go by I have unanswered questions and I am not
sure who will answer them and when. What had I done to
deserve such inhuman, and degrading punishment?
For months I was paraded at the courts in hand cuffs and
leg irons and the red caravan vehicle that ferried us (many
other people had been abducted including a two year old
boy and a 72 year old former police officer) always had to
be escorted by officers from Support Unit. I am reminded
today of how my life was transformed. I endured beatings
on the soles of my feet, kneeling on gravel for hours during
interrogation, threats of ‘extinction’ and numerous random
drives around Harare in blindfold. After spending days on
end only allowed to sit on the floor, when I landed on a
chair in blindfold I thought it was a guillotine.
The judgment of the Constitutional court maintained, ‘’No
evidence was placed before the Court by the respondent to
show that the decisions by the public prosecutor were
based on independent evidence of the crime which was
lawfully obtained.’’
19