Farai Dziva|Opposition party Transform Zimbabwe is not happy with the way its leader is being badly treated in prison.

Read the party’s statement below:

On Friday 21st August 2020, Transform Zimbabwe President Jacob Ngarivhume appeared at Rotten Row
Magistrates Court for a ruling on his bail application.

Ngarivhume was arrested on 20 July 2020 and has
been applying for bail ever since with the state refusing him bail at every turn.

The recent application was premised on changed circumstances post 31st July.

In the previous denials,
the state had argued that granting bail before 31st July would allow Jacob Ngarivhume to complete his
mission of leading protests against corruption in the country.

After the 31st of July, it was Ngarivhume’s
submission that the 31st had come and gone and there were no violent protests as was feared by the
authorities.

Bail was denied and Ngarivhume will be remanded in custody until the 4th of September
2020.

It is becoming clearer by each appearance that the state is using the judiciary to settle political scores.

As a party we firmly belief that it is every Zimbabwean’s right to demonstrate peacefully as enshrined in
our Constitution.

Ngarivhume’s continued incarceration is based on Tweeter postings about an event
that people had a choice to participate in or ignore.

Meanwhile in Zanu Pf there were senior members
who were dismissed for being found with flyers in apparent support of the planned protests who are still
walking freely while Ngarivhume languishes in remand prison over social media posts.

The drama that has surrounded this case is also clear testimony that the state is out to settle political
scores. From refusing warm food, social visits, toiletries to consulting with his lawyers in private are all
pointers to this assertion.

As a political party, we find the state’s position deplorable and should never
be seen in a country that purports to be a democracy.

What we are witnessing is blatant violation of our
constitutional rights – Transform Zimbabwe