RECENTLY acquitted MDC Alliance activist Tungamirai Madzokere (pictured) says he is contemplating filing a court application challenging the denial of conjugal rights to prisoners after his wife left him while he was serving a 20-year jail sentence for a murder he did not commit.
BRIDGET MANANAVIRE
Madzokere and his colleague Last Maengahama were freed last Friday after spending 10 years in jail, first in remand prison and then at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
The two were part of a group of 29 mainly MDC members, dubbed “the Glen View 29”, arrested in connection with policeman Petros Mutedza’s death in May 2011.
The rest were released while Madzokere, Maengahama and Yvonne Musarurwa (released in 2018 through Presidential amnesty) were sentenced to 20 years. One of them, Rebecca Mafikeni, died in 2013 after her condition deteriorated while in remand prison. Musarurwa benefited from a presidential pardon in 2018 and is now a proportional representation MP.
While contemplating on how to get compensation for their wrongful incarceration, Madzokere said he will engage human rights lawyers to get people in prison to enjoy their conjugal rights so as to preserve their relationships and marriages.
He say they will also seek counselling to help them deal with the trauma of wrongful incarceration.
Madzokere does not blame his wife for leaving as he says they were in love, but blames the system which leaves partners and families of those incarcerated as victims.
“It’s something that I have accepted that it happens and my wife was very young. I have reflected on the issue and I want to engage human rights lawyers for an application for conjugal rights for inmates. Because these are consequences of the system,” Madzokere said.
“It is good to reflect, and my wife was very young and she had waited for a very long time. So, for me the problem is the system. Other countries now have conjugal rights in prison because If someone has been arrested, the partner and the family become victims. When I look at it, I must strike a balance, with my wife we were in love for a long time. We really understood each other, but I guess something happened.
“I haven’t seen the kids, we are still processing that. They used to visit during family weeks in Chikurubi, but that had stopped because of Covid-19.”
Madzokere and his wife tried to wed in 2017, but the wedding was cancelled. She then left him in November 2020, just eight months before his release.
He said suing authorities for the wrongful incarceration was a measure to deter the government from persecuting citizens.
“Compensation should work so that they do not repeat this, we must set an example. I am not a vindictive person. I am a Christian, I am Catholic. In this case, we want the state to stop doing this because if we fail to demand compensation, if we fail to sue, that means unlawful convictions will continue,” Madzokere said.
“For that, we agreed that we are going to seek advice from the lawyers first then we will have a position. There were times we were being treated unfairly in prison because of our links with MDC and when our comrades wanted to come visit us or when they would be denied access to us, including the late president Morgan Tsvangirai.
“Being arrested for no offence happens with dictatorships. They suppress by unlawful arrests and detentions. It exposes the regime and weaknesses in the judiciary system, which needs to be transformed.”
Madzokere said while in prison he and Maengahama were always cautious about the possibility of being poisoned.
“We used to be quite aware of our surroundings. It helps just being suspicious. We would get food from friends, party members, relatives and we would get a lot of food and share even during public functions where there is catering we would sometimes shun plates served specifically for us, but at times it would just be suspicions as the plate would be passed on to other people. But I didn’t see any attempt to that effect. The correctional officers are very cooperative, especially low ranks. Some are quite educated in other professions, but they are there.”
While in prison, Madzokere attained a diploma in public relations. He is studying for a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Development Studies with the Zimbabwe Open University. He is in his third year.
Madzokere, who was a councillor in Glen View suburb before his conviction, said he would be willing to get back into active politics, but will not impose himself.
On the divisions which rocked the party after his incarceration, he said:
“I will be guided by democratic processes to determine which role I will take. I am happy that my seat was taken over by a woman and it was a progressive move. The disturbances that happened in the party (MDC Alliance) were a cleansing process as people exposed themselves.”
