Resist, Reject and Report Violence, #RRRV2023
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Major Highlights
On 1 February the government gazetted the new Police Amendment Bill. The Bill replaces the Police
Amendment Bill HB2021 which lapsed in November 2021 at the end of the Fourth Session of the Ninth
Parliament. Some of the provisions include the Commissioner-General of Police being appointed by the
President in consultation with the minister responsible for police. The Bill seeks to align the tenure of the
office of the Commissioner-General of Police with section 221 (2) of the Constitution and Section 223 (1) (a) of
the Bill seeks to give him powers to appoint competent persons to hold posts or ranks in the police service.
The proposed law will also align provisions relating to appointment, promotion, discharge, retirement and
conditions of service of members of the police service with provisions of the Constitution. According to
Veritas the newly gazetted Police Amendment Bill 2023 should undergo all normal stages of a new Bill before
Parliament as certain provisions, if enacted, would have detrimental effects on effective policing and
ultimately on national security. The Bill seeks to repeal Section 32 of the principal Act so that all trials,
including those of commissioned officers, will be conducted by boards of officers.
On 7 February Hon Job Sikhala’s lawyer Jeremiah Bhamu filed two applications before Harare magistrate
Tafadzwa Miti for Sikhala to get treatment from his chosen medical practitioners, as it is within his rights to
do so. Hon Sikhala wrote a letter from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison expressing concern over his
deteriorating health. He highlighted that he had been suffering from abdominal pain ever since his alleged
poisoning. Hon Sikhala stated that the pain, from his left side, had been growing steadily over the weeks.
Reports indicate that Hon Sikhala is being denied access to doctors of his own choice by prison authorities.
On January 26, Sikhala was remanded in custody in absentia after the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional
Services indicated that he was not well. Hon Sikhala who has been in pre-trial detention for more than 8
months made an application on 7 February for prison officers to return his blood pressure medication that
had been confiscated by members of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS). He was granted
access to medical assistance and for the officers to return his blood pressure medication. Hon Sikhala has
been denied bail a record 15 times after his arrest on 14 June 2022 and remains incarcerated. His situation
exposes selective application of law as some politicians who have had a brush with the law have easily been
granted bail. Even the perpetrators who flogged the elderly in Murehwa North have been granted bail.
February 2023
The Zimbabwe Peace Project Monthly Monitoring Report
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