from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
HARARE, (CAJ News) – ZIMBABWE’S head of police faces imprisonment over the force’s failure to compensate victims of brutality by law enforcement officers.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga is held liable for contempt of court.
Loveness Chiriseri, a Chitungwiza resident, is among victims that must be paid, as ordered by High Court Judge Justice Edith Mushore in July 2020.
She is owed US$16 788 after she was shot by police officers at a checkpoint in August 2018.
Matanga is opposing the court judgment.
He was sued alongside Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe, Chief Inspector Modwick Musonza, the Officer in Charge of St Mary’s Police Station in Chitungwiza and Finance Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube for damages for injuries sustained as a result of the shooting, medical expenses, pain and suffering, nervous shock and loss of amenities to life.
The cash-strapped Zimbabwean government owes numerous civilians brutalized by police.
Local police are accused of allegiance to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).
– CAJ News