Former Mkoba North MP Amos Chibaya (CCC) was denied bail by Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi on Monday in a case involving charges of inciting violence. He was remanded in custody to 30 October.
As reported by <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/chibaya-denied-bail-in-violence-incitement-case/">ZimLive</a>, Chibaya is accused of urging fellow CCC activists to engage in violent acts while addressing them at the Harare Magistrates’ Court, where party faction leader Jameson Timba and several others were denied bail in June.
The magistrate accepted the prosecution’s argument that Chibaya will abscond trial and may commit similar offences if released.
A frequent target of arrests due to his activism, Chibaya was recently fined US$50 for missing a court appearance in another ongoing case.
The state contends that Chibaya was part of a group of CCC activists who demonstrated outside the court in June, demanding the release of 77 party members who had been denied bail.
It is further alleged that he convened a meeting at the court’s entrance, where fellow party politicians Agency Gumbo and Ostallos Gift Siziba also spoke. During the meeting, Chibaya allegedly incited violence by saying:
<blockquote>
Chi regime chinotya vanhu, chikaona vanhu chinobvunda, Havana kuhwina maelections, togona kufuma tavakutonga, Zimbabwe haisi yeZANU PF, Zimbabwe is not a Mnangagwa Dynasty zvekumbunyikidza vanhu zvinofanira kupera.
</blockquote>
Loosely translated, Chibaya allegedly said: “This regime fears the people, and when it sees the people, it trembles. They did not win the elections, and we can wake up to find ourselves ruling. Zimbabwe is not ZANU PF, Zimbabwe is not a Mnangagwa Dynasty. Oppressing people must end.”
It is further alleged that Chibaya invited citizens to come in large numbers to demand the release of their colleagues.
<blockquote>
As a result of the incitement, some people at the meeting promised Chibaya to take the prisoners out by force by saying in vernacular “tichavatora Nechisimba, eheeee”.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

Former Mkoba North MP Amos Chibaya was not allowed to go free by a judge because he is accused of telling his friends to be violent. The judge worries that Chibaya might run away and do more bad things if he is let out of jail. Chibaya is known for getting arrested a lot for his activism. The government thinks he was part of a group that caused trouble outside a court in June. Chibaya is accused of saying things that made people want to fight for their friends who were in trouble.

Amos Chibaya Denied Bail On Violence Incitement Charges

ZANU PF bigwig and businessman Isau Mupfumi was on Monday, 27 May granted US$1 000 by the courts following his arrest on Saturday for his alleged part in violent clashes over bus loading bays in Mutare, which left several people injured.
Mupfumi appeared before Mutare Provincial Magistrate Tendai Mahwe facing a charge of incitement to commit public violence.
As reported by <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200027505/transport-mogul-mupfumi-granted-bail">NewsDay</a>, Mupfumi was granted bail, with conditions, by consent of both the State and the defence counsel. He will return to court in June.
Mupfumi was represented by Victor Chinzamba of Mugadza and Partners Legal Practitioners.
Mutare district public prosecutor Tirivanhu Mutyasira did not oppose the bail application by Chinzamba saying Mupfumi is a businessman of repute and was not at flight risk.
Violence broke out at the Old Harare Rank and Mudzviti Rank last week, leading to a fight between Mupfumi and Mukumba bus company touts.
The court heard that on Thursday last week, Mupfumi’s senior rank marshal at Sakubva Musika rank, Farai Chitsa (39), was attacked with machetes, sjamboks, golf clubs and knives by rank marshals belonging to Mukumba Brothers.
Mupfumi then allegedly instructed Chitsa and the other rank marshals to retaliate, after which they went to Old Harare Rank driving in two commuter omnibuses.
Mupfumi’s rank marshals allegedly attacked the rival group with machetes, sjamboks, golf clubs and knives.
More than 40 touts who were arrested were denied bail by Mahwe and will return to court on June 10.
National Police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi on Sunday said they also want to interview Leonard Mukumba of Inter Africa Buses over the skirmishes.
NewsDay reported sources as saying Mukumba has been out of the country on business.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Businessman Isau Mupfumi Granted US$1 000 Bail

Renowned Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga on Monday 08 May, won an appeal against her conviction for incitement to public violence.
Dangarembga was found guilty of the charge by a magistrate in September 2022 following her arrest for staging a silent protest in Harare and holding up a sign calling for reforms.
The award-winning author and filmmaker was given a ZWL$70 000 Zimbabwean dollar fine and a six-month suspended sentence.
The High Court in Harare on Monday overturned the verdict saying it was erroneously reached.
The judge said the full reasoning behind the decision would be released at a later stage.
Speaking to AFP after the ruling, Dangarembga said the verdict by the High Court “shows respect for the law of Zimbabwe,” describing her initial conviction as a “blatant miscarriage of justice.”
The Constitution of Zimbabwe, which was adopted in 2013, includes provisions protecting the rights to freedom of assembly and association, as well as the right to demonstrate peacefully.
These rights are enshrined in Section 58 of the Constitution, which states that “every person has the right to freedom of assembly and association, and the right not to assemble or associate with others.”
Additionally, Section 59 explicitly protects the right to demonstrate and petition peacefully.
The 64-year-old was arrested in July 2020 as she walked the empty streets of Harare during the coronavirus lockdown with a friend, journalist Julie Barnes, and a few other friends.
Dangarembga held a placard reading, “We want better – reform our institutions”.
She also wore a sign on her back calling for the release of a prominent journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, who had previously been arrested on similar charges of inciting violence.
Prosecutors alleged the demonstration had not been authorised and was aimed at inciting violence.
But Dangarembga argued that she spoke to no one during the walk.
Barnes, who was jointly charged with Dangarembga, was also acquitted on appeal.
Chris Mhike and Harrison Nkomo of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) got the convictions and sentence overturned by High Court Judges Justice Happias Zhou and Justice Benjamin Chikowero.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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