Firebrand legislator Job Sikhala’s wife, Ellen Sikhala has been arrested.
Posting on Twitter, family spokesperson Freddy Masarirevu confirmed the news and though details were sketchy it appears she was arraigned for a traffic offence and would appear in Court on Thursday.
She was on her way to visit her incarcerated husband at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
“Mai Sikhala has been arrested on her way to Chikurubhi to see her husband @JobSikhalal. A docket has been opened & she has been ‘summoned’ to appear at Court, Rotten Row on Thursday. Her vehicle was impounded. Although sketchy, it appears to be an alleged traffic offence. She called me and I’m on my way to Harare Central Police to try and assist her,” Masarirevu said
Sikhala and fellow legislator Godfrey Sithole including 14 others have been in remand prison for more than 90 days on allegations of inciting public violence following the murder of CCC activist Moreblessing Ali.
Meanwhile, HIGH Court Judge Justice Emilia Muchawa recently reaffirmed that consultations between detained prisoners and their lawyers should remain confidential in a momentous development which should put a stop to the pervasive and intrusive practice by Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS).
ZPCS through Superintendent Moses Gukurume, the Officer-In-Charge of Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, had on 4 July 2022 denied human rights lawyer Roselyn Hanzi, who is the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), access to her two clients namely Zengeza West constituency legislator Hon. Job Sikhala and Chitungwiza North constituency legislator Hon. Godfrey Sithole.
Irked by this, Hanzi engaged her lawyers Obey Shava and Paidamoyo Saurombe of ZLHR, who on 5 July 2022, filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court arguing that prisoners have a right to consult in private with their lawyers as provided in Section 50(5)(b) of the Constitution and asked the High Court to declare the refusal by ZPCS to allow her access to her clients as unlawful.
