THE Salary Service Bureau (SSB) has been ordered to garnish US$100 each per month from two members of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) for torturing a Harare man.
The perpetrators, Michael Nduna and Florence Chihambakwe, were sued for US$5 250 damages by Alex Tendai Gombedza, who was severely assaulted and tortured together with his friend Evidence Kutsawa by the prison guards.
Gombedza and Kutsawa were accused of trespassing into a prohibited area while walking through Chikurubi Prison gardens in Harare in January 2022.
The court heard that Nduna and Chihambakwe instructed Gombedza and Kutsawa to lie on the ground before assaulting them on their feet using wooden pick handles.
After the assault, the ZPCS officers ordered some prisoners they were supervising to also assault the duo.
As a result, Gombedza and Kutsawa sustained severe injuries and had to seek medical attention.
According to a medical report, Gombedza suffered 3% residual disability as a result of the injuries from the assault.
After the assault and torture, Gombedza engaged Chinopfukutwa and Saurombe, who in August 2022 sued Nduna and Chihambakwe for damages amounting to US$5 250.
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During trial at the Harare Civil Court, Gombedza’s lawyers Tinashe Chinopfukutwa and Paidamoyo Saurombe from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights argued that their client felt greatly humiliated, embarrassed and dehumanised.
The lawyers said Nduna and Chihambakwe treated Gombedza like a dangerous criminal yet he was unarmed and posed no security threat.
They also argued that there was no justification for excessive use of force against Gombedza since he had not committed any crime.
Gombedza also cited Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and ZPCS Commissioner-General Moses Chihobvu, among the respondents.
Gombedza resorted to asking the SSB to garnish the two ZPCS officers’ salaries after only realising US$49 from the sale of household property belonging to Nduna at an auction held in Harare in April 2023.
He said no attachable property was found at Chihambakwe’s residence.
The SSB also deducted salaries of police officers for misdemeanours committed against human rights defenders and ordinary citizens.
