Kazembe Kazembe has exonerated Job Sikhala.

By Temba Rukotso | Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe unwittingly exonerated Job Sikhala in Parliament when he insisted that the state does not act on social media posts.

Sikhala who has been denied bail over six times is accused of disturbing police investigations in the murder of Moreblessing Ali after he as accusations allege, posted a video on social media demanding justice for her murder.

The St Mary’s legislator is also charged with inciting public violence under the same facts.

In the incitement case, he is jointly charged with Godfrey Sithole, the MP for Chitungwiza North, who is also being held without bail at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.

The state is relying on a social media video to deny Job Sikhala bail while Minister Kazembe Kazembe said in parliament that the state does not act on social media videos.

Kazembe is on record and it can be proved through the Hansard that he said: “The police do not act on social media and drama.” Parliament is the legislative arm of government, the arm that makes the laws under which Job Sikhala is incarcerated, therefore if a government Minister says officially on record that the state does not act on social media issues then surely this is something that the lawyers can now work with in their bid to secure Job Sikhala’s freedom.

South African based legal expert Jonathan Mavimbela commenting on the issue said “There is a doctrine of approbation and reprobation at law which provides that a person cannot both assert his rights acquired from part of a document and reject the rest of the document at the same time. As such the Minister cannot claim that the police and the state do not act on social media posts or videos yet the same police and state were holding Job Sikhala for a social media post.”

Mavimbela said the Minister’s statement in the law making body can be used to prove that the rules are being changed at will to suit certain narratives and give out desired outcomes.

If the state cannot act on Jasmin Toffa’s case because it was on social media then how come the same are acting on a social media video posted by Job Sikhala?

The Minister cannot have his cake and eat it he needs to choose a single standard and stick to it fairly and without wavering.

Temba Rukotso
St Mary’s