By Political Reporter— Overzealous Shona police officers in Nkayi, Matabeleland North province, are facing serious backlash for violently assaulting 11 Ndebele villagers, forcing them to march and chant Chimurenga war songs in Shona, a clear act of humiliation and intimidation.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has taken up the case, condemning the officers’ actions as a “brutal crackdown” and demanding immediate justice.
In a post on X, ZLHR stated that the villagers were subjected to senseless violence under the pretence of investigating diesel theft.
“The Nkayi villagers have called on the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to act swiftly against the rogue officers who brutally beat them and forced them to sing liberation songs in Shona,” the ZLHR post read.
Lawyers Jabulani Mhlanga and Prisca Dube, representing the villagers, lodged an official complaint with the Officer-in-Charge at Manoti Police Station, decrying the officers’ actions. They reported that violent raids were carried out across three homesteads belonging to the Sibanda, Ncube, and Lunga families, with officers claiming to be investigating diesel theft from a local businessman, Oscar Mawarire.
According to the lawyers, the officers—armed with rifles, truncheons, and whips—unlawfully assaulted villagers, including a minor, without provocation. They forced the villagers to sing Chimurenga songs in Shona and then beat them for not singing “correctly.”
Mhlanga and Dube also revealed that the officers conducted warrantless searches, seizing tools and falsely accusing the villagers of being involved in criminal activities. Despite Mawarire informing the police that the villagers were not suspects, seven were arrested and taken to a police post at Kana Mission.
The arrested villagers were denied basic rights—they were not allowed to wear shoes or warm clothing, were not informed of their rights, and endured further abuse at the police post, forced to sleep on concrete floors without blankets or access to ablution facilities. Handcuffed together, they endured racist slurs and were told they were being made an example of to prevent “Ndebele thieves” from encroaching on “Shona territory.”
After days of suffering, the villagers were released on July 15 after paying US$30 each, but no receipts were issued, nor were they given medical forms to seek treatment at government facilities. They eventually sought medical care privately before approaching ZLHR for help.
In an August 1 letter to the Officer-in-Charge at Manoti Police Station, Mhlanga and Dube demanded a full investigation into the abuses, condemning the violation of the villagers’ rights to liberty, dignity, protection from inhumane treatment, and equality under Zimbabwe’s Constitution. They insist that the responsible officers be prosecuted.
The incident has sparked outrage, with some likening it to the Gukurahundi atrocities. “Is this tribalism another operation against yet another generation of dissidents?” one villager remarked. Another villager, Mbiko KaMadlenya, who endured similar abuse during Gukurahundi in 1985, said, “I was forced to sing Shona songs and beaten for being Ndebele. It’s shocking that it’s happening again in 2024.”
The echoes of past violence are stirring deep wounds, as Matabeleland refuses to stay silent.