Political Activist Sithole Fears For Own Safety
25 January 2023
Spread the love

By Own Correspondent| Like many other young, educated Zimbabweans, Terrence Sithole wanted to work for the prosperity of Zimbabwe.

Sithole says he wants to see a better Zimbabwe where everyone has equal opportunities.

However, Sithole said this was not to be the case in a Zimbabwe which had been ruled by only known two Presidents and ZANU PF since it attained independence four decades ago.

“Four decades of corrupt and tyrannical ruling party dictatorship have taken a heavy toll on Zimbabwe. The education and health sector have collapsed and almost half the population is living in abject poverty,” he said.

Thus in 2013, Sithole told himself that the only way of changing the status quo was to join the opposition party- the then MDC Alliance.

As the deputy organising secretary for Highfield West, Sithole was responsible for mobilizing and recruiting youth to join the Party and participate in the programs.

Highfield, where Sithole hails, has always been a hot bed of nationalistic politics in the pre independence era and opposition politics in the post-independence Zimbabwe.

Thus, it was not a coincidence that on 11 March 2008, an opposition activist Gift Tandare was shot dead by riot police on his way to a prayer meeting organised by the Save Zimbabwe Coalition in Highfield.

So, the area is always under the spotlight by the state security agents.

“So, it is the same residential area I stayed, and it’s known for being an opposition politics stronghold. Our supervisors would sternly emphasise on our safety when carrying out our day-to-day tasks as the risks associated were very high and would sometimes result in loss of life or extreme torturing from state agents or watch dogs,” said Sithole.

Little did he know that state security agents were watching.On the 20th of June in 2022 Sithole was abducted by two state security agents who purported to be police detectives at Highfield Shopping centre only to be released three days later with no charge against him.

They wanted to nail him for being among the architects of the Nyatsime violence which rocked Chitungwiza a culmination of opposition activist Moreblessing Sithole an opposition politics activist who was abducted and murdered by known ruling party activist Pius Jamba.

“While being held incognito, I suffered harassment and torture in the hands of state security agents for three solid days,” he said.

After all, he is brother to opposition party parliamentarian Godfrey Sithole who was also arrested for the Nyatsime violence.

“My family was not spared as well as they also became targets of the state security agents and ZANU PF militias who harassed them such that they had to flee from home”.

Sithole has since gone into hiding. Hundreds more other opposition politics activists have gone into hiding as security agents intensify a crackdown as the country gears for the watershed 2023 elections.