Friends of jailed Zengeza West Member of Parliament, Job Sikhala, yesterday accused the police of blocking a prayer session for Sikhala which was supposed to be held at his Chitungwiza home on Wednesday.
Sikhala has been in prison since June when he was arrested for inciting public violence which erupted on 14 June during the funeral wake of slain Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist, Moreblessing Ali.
Friends of Job Sikhala Solidarity Trust spokesperson Emmanuel Zellers Gumbo said police barricaded roads leading to Sikhala house in Chitungwiza. He told NewsDay:
We were supposed to have a prayer session around 5pm at Sikhala’s place and police at St Mary’s had given us the greenlight to do so. However, we were surprised to see truckloads of police barricading the road which leads to his place. We couldn’t even proceed with our prayer session.
We are dealing with a regime which seeks to control and monitor everyone. It was just a prayer, but the current regime is even afraid of prayer gatherings. We wanted to pray in solidarity, not only with Sikhala, but also the people since the Judiciary had failed us. Our only hope is God. We can’t continue to see this level of injustice.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was not aware of the incident.