Former MP Amos Chibaya Granted Bail By High Court
Amos Chibaya, the former Member of Parliament for Mkoba North (CCC), has been granted bail by the High Court after spending over 40 days in pre-trial detention.
In a ruling on November 22, Justice Gibson Mandaza ordered Chibaya to pay a US$500 deposit to the Clerk of Court at the Harare Magistrates’ Court.
In addition to the deposit, Chibaya was instructed to report to the CID Law and Order Division in Harare every fortnight, continue residing at his usual address, and refrain from interfering with witnesses.
Chibaya is facing accusations of inciting fellow CCC activists to commit violence during a gathering outside the Harare Magistrates’ Court in June.
The protest followed the denial of bail for party faction leader Jameson Timba and several others.
His party maintains that Chibaya should never have been arrested, insisting he committed no offence. CCC said in a statement:
We won’t celebrate persecution and suppression of freedom of association. He shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place.
Zimbabwe is not yet free under the current regime.
We continue to demand the release of all political prisoners.
A frequent target of arrests due to his activism, Chibaya was recently fined US$50 for missing a court appearance in another ongoing case.
The state contends that Chibaya was part of a group of CCC activists who demonstrated outside the court in June, demanding the release of 77 party members who had been denied bail.
It is further alleged that he convened a meeting at the court’s entrance, where fellow party politicians Agency Gumbo and Ostallos Gift Siziba also spoke. During the meeting, Chibaya allegedly incited violence by saying:
Chi regime chinotya vanhu, chikaona vanhu chinobvunda, Havana kuhwina maelections, togona kufuma tavakutonga, Zimbabwe haisi yeZANU PF, Zimbabwe is not a Mnangagwa Dynasty zvekumbunyikidza vanhu zvinofanira kupera.
Loosely translated, Chibaya allegedly said: “This regime fears the people, and when it sees the people, it trembles. They did not win the elections, and we can wake up to find ourselves ruling. Zimbabwe is not ZANU PF, Zimbabwe is not a Mnangagwa Dynasty. Oppressing people must end.”
It is further alleged that Chibaya invited citizens to come in large numbers to demand the release of their colleagues.
As a result of the incitement, some people at the meeting promised Chibaya to take the prisoners out by force by saying in vernacular “tichavatora Nechisimba, eheeee”.
More: Pindula News
