Harare Mabvuku man nearly killed by Zimbabwe soldiers over lockdown curfew

A Mabvuku-Harare man, David Mutendera Anthony, was reportedly assaulted by soldiers on 5 August after arriving home around 7 pm in violation of the dusk-to-dawn COVID-19 curfew the government imposed on the country.

Former Zimpapers editor, Edmund Kudzayi posted on Twitter suggesting that the man arrived home late after failing to find transport in time. He said:

On August 5, a father failed to get transport out of town. He only managed to get back to Mabvuku at 7pm after 6PM curfew and was brutally assaulted by soldiers. His name is David Mutendera. He could be your father or mine. Is this a free Zimbabwe governed by the rule of law?

On the fateful day, 48-year-old David Mutendera Anthony had the misfortune of failing to find transport to take him back home in time due to the transport woes, partly caused by the banning of commuter omnibuses and the shortage of ZUPCO buses.

Mutendera eventually found his way home after a ZUPCO bus came much later that it was scheduled for. Unfortunately, for the father, he only got to his neighbourhood after 7 pm, an hour after the 12-hour curfew imposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa had started. The President introduced the curfew ostensibly as one of the measures to fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus. Cases of Covid-19 have been spiking in the last 2 months.

As Mutendera was rushing to get home, he ran into a group of soldiers who accused him of violating lockdown regulations and the curfew introduced by Mnangagwa’s government. Despite efforts to explain his predicament, the soldiers disregarded his explanation and proceeded to assault him brutally. During the savage beating, Mutendera’s front teeth got damaged he stands to lose them.

He narrated his nightmare:

“I arrived a little after 7 PM and as I was walking home, I came across soldiers who accused me of violating the 6 PM curfew. Despite my explanation that the ZUPCO was late, they still beat me. My three front teeth are shaking,”