Mazowe man wins $56k lawsuit against police

Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe and Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga have been ordered to pay $56 640 as compensation to a Mazowe man whose car was burnt to a shell by law enforcement agents in 2019.

Harare magistrate Brenda Dhliwayo ordered Matanga to compensate Philemon Jijita for damages caused to his vehicle, which was burnt in 2019 by law enforcement agents, who were evicting illegal miners at Jumbo Mine in Mazowe.

Jijita, who runs a tuckshop at Masasa Farm in Mazowe, sued Matanga and Kazembe in December 2019 for indemnity after police officers burnt his Nissan Hi-Rider vehicle in May 2019.

The vehicle caught fire when police officers burnt housing structures, cabins and some grass structures that were close to his car.

It is alleged that Jijita pleaded with the police to spare his car, but the law enforcement agents would have none of it, ordering him to go away.

With the assistance of Tinashe Chinopfukutwa of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Jijita sued Matanga and Kazembe demanding compensation for the damage to his car.

During trial before Dhliwayo, Chinopfukutwa argued that Jijita suffered severe shock and trauma as he witnessed his vehicle being torched by police officers without reasonable justification.

-Newsday