The alleged coup plotters who were arrested in a dramatic military swoop in central Harare on May 5 2007 finally tasted freedom on Monday after spending exactly four years and one day in secret military torture chambers, army detention barracks, police holding cells and the notorious Class D cells of Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
Despite the torture, near starvation, solitude and years of incarceration in one of the world’s worst prisons where at least one of them had a close shave with death, they still profess innocence – in fact, they are dumbfounded anyone could have fathomed they could have ever contemplated removing President Robert Mugabe from power – through a coup.
Their lawyer, Charles Warara, says he is equally baffled. “There is no shred of evidence to point at the possibility of a case being built against any of my clients. In fact, at the beginning of the case, one of the prosecutors that were dealing with the case said they did not see how the State sought to sustain its case,” he said.
NewsDay last night had a one-on-one interview with three of the six alleged coup plotters – all of them who appear anything but the sophisticated kind capable of toppling a government. They look nothing more than harmless ordinary township fellows.
“None among them is capable either intellectually or materially to force such a machinery like our government out of power – a system so well-oiled and that has held power for 31 years. None of them is even near-genius and there is no shred of arms of war linked to them and no evidence of any kind of preparation for such a dreadful event,” Warara said.
One by one, the “coup plotters”, apparently still dazed by the new-look Harare, recounted their harrowing experiences at the hands of the military and State intelligence agents that arrested them and the four years in the dark world called prison.
When he was arrested, Shingirai Mutemachani was 20 years old. He says he had just completed training as a soldier and was based at One Commando. He was a midfield player with the army football team, Black Rhinos.
He was arrested while waiting for his friend and neighbour, Emmanuel Marara, who was having a meeting with his colleagues at their offices one Tuesday afternoon.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
They were at some offices at the corner of Fourth Street and Nelson Mandela Avenue. Marara, who was also arrested, confessed he and a few of his colleagues were meeting to discuss the formation of a political party they intended to name the United Democratic Front.
“I had no idea at all why I was arrested until the day we were taken to court and were told we were facing treason charges,” the youthful Mutemachani said.
He said for three years he was kept in a single cell in what is known as the penalty block.
There is nothing but a toilet hole and pieces of cloth that are supposed to pass for blankets, he said. He was later transferred to the D-Class section for the remainder of his incarceration.
“Can you imagine I never experienced the era of trillions? Many of you became trillionaires, but I never got the opportunity to be one,” he joked. Oncemore Mudzurahohwa (44) said he worked for TelOne when he was arrested. The men that arrested them accused them of being illegal foreign currency dealers.
“I never thought I would spend a day in custody. I ended up spending four years, locked up for allegedly trying to topple the government,” he said in disbelief. Marara complained about being kept among and under the same conditions as convicted dangerous criminals. “We were literally serving those four years even though we had not been convicted of any crime,” he said.
The “coup plotters” talked about hunger, disease and death in prison. At one time, especially in 2008, an inmate population of 1 700 was fed with “two bins of cabbage” served with minute morsels of sadza as a day’s meal. “As many as 20 people died on a daily basis at one point,” said Marara
Warara said his clients had been released without conditions and could only be brought back to court by way of summons. He said the naming of Defence minister Emmerson Munangagwa in the case was a figment of one of the witnesses’ imagination.
“The witness who mentioned his name was under distressful conditions. There is evidence of torture,” he said.
