By A Correspondent| A Zimbabwe man has been languishing in prison for close to one month after he was arrested last month by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers and charged with undermining authority of or insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Patrick Kingirasi, an unemployed resident of Bindura in Mashonaland Central province, has been languishing in remand prison after he was arrested by ZRP officers on 18 November 2023 and charged with undermining authority of or insulting President Mnangagwa as defined in section 33(2)(b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

Prosecutors alleged that Kingirasi, who is represented by Pride Dzapasi, undermined and insulted President Mnangagwa on 2 October 2023, when he called Edson Chibaya, a fellow Bindura resident, on his mobile phone and made some utterances to the effect that the ruling ZANU PF political party members were thieves and blamed the ruling party’s leader for causing massive suffering among citizens and for authoring the country’s economic crisis.

Kingirasi is alleged to have shouted at Chibaya in Shona language that “Musandiitire zvechimbavha zve ZANU PF nava Mnangagwa venyu varikutipa kutambura,” which prosecuting authorities translated to mean “Do not be thievery in ZANU PF way with your Mnangagwa, who is causing us to suffer.”

Prosecutors said Kingirasi’s alleged utterances were unlawful, intentional, abusive, indecent and abusive.

The Bindura resident is the latest among dozens of Zimbabweans, who have been arrested, detained and prosecuted on charges of undermining authority of or insulting President Mnangagwa.

During the reign of Robert Mugabe, the country’s late leader, more than 200 people were prosecuted and persecuted on the same and nefarious charges of undermining authority of or insulting the President, charges which continue to be preferred against citizens in the post-Mugabe era.