By A Correspondent| Some household property belonging to two Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) officers will go under the hammer at an auction in Harare on 21 April 2023 to recover a US$5 702 debt owed to a Harare resident, who sued them and claimed compensation for unlawful assault.
In a sale-in-execution notice seen by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), L.M Auctioneers will conduct the sale of the property at L.M Auctioneers premises located in Prospect industrial area in Waterfalls suburb in Harare on 21 April 2023.
The property to be auctioned to recover a debt belonging to Harare resident Alex Tendai Gombedza, includes a deep freezer, a Samsung television set and a set of sofas.
The ZPCS officers namely Michael Nduna and Florence Chihambakwe accrued the US$5 702 debt after they were sued in their personal capacity for damages amounting to US$5 702 by Gombedza, whom they severely assaulted and tortured together with his friend Evidence Kutsawa after they accused them of passing through a prohibited area
while they were walking through Chikurubi Prison garden in Harare in January 2022.
After the assault and torture, an aggrieved Gombedza engaged Tinashe Chinopfukutwa and Paidamoyo Saurombe of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who in August 2022 sued Nduna and Chihambakwe for damages amounting to US$5 720 arising from the physical attack and ill-treatment for pain and suffering, humiliation, affront to dignity
and embarrassment. Gombedza also cited Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and ZPCS Commissioner-General Moses Chihobvu among the respondents.
During trial at Harare Civil Magistrates Court, Chinopfukutwa and Saurombe said Nduna and Chihambakwe instructed Gombedza and Kutsawa to lie down on the ground before assaulting them on their feet using wooden pick handles. After the assault, the ZPCS officers instructed some prisoners whom they were supervising to also assault the duo.
As a result, Gombedza and Kutsawa sustained severe injuries and had to seek medical attention.
In the case of Gombedza, he sustained injuries on his legs and feet and he was admitted at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospital for treatment.
The Harare resident suffered excruciating pain on his feet, which he still feels to date.
According to a medical reports, Gombedza suffered three percent residual disability as a result of the injuries, which he sustained from the assault.
Chinopfukutwa and Saurombe argued that their client felt greatly humiliated, embarrassed, dehumanised and degraded with the assaults and ill- treatment that he received at the hands of the ZPCS officers.
The human rights lawyers stated that Nduna and Chihambakwe treated Gombedza as if he was a dangerous criminal yet he was unarmed and posed no security threat whatsoever.
Furthermore, Chinopfukutwa and Saurombe argued that there was no justification for the excessive use of force against Gombedza as he had not committed any crime but was just going about his business walking on his way to Harare’s central business centre.
In the end, Nduna and Chihambakwe were ordered to pay compensation amounting to US$5 720 to Gombedza for damages for humiliation, embarrassment, affront to dignity and contumelia, pain and suffering and special damages for medical expenses which he incurred while being treated.