5 Arrested For Wearing Yellow

By Staff Reporter

Five Zimbabwe citizens were on Friday arrested for wearing yellow regalia in the streets of the capital city Harare.

Police confirmed the arrest and said the 5, Nyandoro, Emmanuel Gumbo, Tatenda Chigwada, Prince Mutebuka and Admire Saiti were disturbing the flow of people in the central business district.

This comes barely few days after the launch of a new political party by popular opposition leader, Advocate Nelson Chamisa who in 2018 went to election leading the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance party.

Chamisa Launched his new political party called the Citizens for Coalition Change (CCC) last week which is overwhelmingly receiving a big welcome by citizens both local and abroad, expressing their joy and happiness on social media.

Supporters of the CCC campaigned for a yellow Friday on social media and many in and outside the country posted their pictures in response to the “Yellow Friday” campaign which has led to the arrest and beating of the 5.

Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyati said, “the 5 were arrested for blocking the pavements, chanting party slogan and the police intervened while others ran away and these 5 were arrested, it has nothing to do with the regalia” Nyati said.

Emmanuel Gumbo told Post On Sunday that they were arrested at corner Robert Mugabe St and Julius Nyerere where they were thoroughly beaten with button sticks, open hands and fists.

“We were forced to lie down in their truck where they continued to beat us, some even stepped on our heads, up until we got to Harare Central Police Station. We were mercilessly brutalized suggesting that we have been sent to test people’s reaction of the newly launched party” gumbo said.

Gumbo added that they were threatened not to disclose their ordeal in the hands of police officers who arrested them or risk disappearing.

He also said the team was in Police uniform and the other one in plain clothes calling each other with pseudo names such as ‘India’ so that they don’t disclose their names.

Advocate Wilbert Mandinde of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum rescued the 5 after spending 1 night in police cells on ZWL $2000 fine each for disorderly conduct and criminal nuisance.

Mandinde told this publication that, “as legal practitioner they are worried with the heavy handed nature of police in circumstances such as this. With the nature of the offence and charge laid against the 5, did not need them to be buttered in the manner in which they were buttered and even spent a night in custody over something where a fine would have been assessed.

A police station is open 24 hrs per day and an assessment of a fine should actually have been done at any particular point. It was strange that it had to wait for someone to come the next morning simply to assess a fine and say pay a fine and go, while others have sustained injuries” added Mandinde.

Gumbo said their experience clearly preempts what 2023 holds for the people of Zimbabwe, this was a glimpse of Zanu Pf orchestrated violence to intimidate citizens towards 2023 general elections.