The Forum welcomes the arrest and the subsequent civil imprisonment of Garikayi Nyamakambo on 25 February 2013 by the Marondera Deputy Sheriff. This comes after the Forum successfully applied for a warrant for civil imprisonment against Nyamakambo at the Harare High Court. Nyamakambo led two other ZANU PF supporters and assaulted Caleb Marange in 2006 in Marondera in an act of politically motivated violence.
The High Court ordered Nyamakambo and his two accomplices, Jealous Kuzondishaya and Gift Midzi to pay Marange US$5,500.00 in damages. They refused to abide by the court judgment leading the Forum to apply for a writ of execution against the property of the trio. The court granted the writ in November 2011. The Deputy Sheriff could not effect the writ against Kuzondishaya and Midzi because they did not have the means to settle the amount ordered by the court. However, Nyamakambo had the means to settle the amount but was willfully refusing to pay and continuously evaded the Deputy Sheriff for the past 14 months.
Nyamakambo’s luck ran out yesterday when the Deputy Sheriff finally located and arrested him. He was transferred to Marondera Prison, where he is being held for an initial 30 days or until he abides by the order of the court.
The Forum believes that such coercive means are necessary to ensure the respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe and an end to the culture of impunity. The arrest and incarceration of Nyamakambo is a positive step towards ensuring that perpetrators of political violence are held accountable for their actions. It also serves as a deterrent to would be perpetrators of political violence.
ENDS////
