PRESSURE exerted on government by civil society, political and diplomatic players to act on the disappearance of Itai Dzamara appears to be bearing fruit but police’s commitment to finding him remains questionable.
EDITORIAL
The mass prayer meeting held in Harare a week ago and the statements made by diplomats appear to have jolted the police into action which culminated in a $10 000 reward for information on the whereabouts of the journalist-cum-activist.
However, the sincerity and commitment of the police remains in doubt, judging by the timing of their reward and the wishy-washy investigations they have conducted so far.
After Dzamara’s abduction and disappearance police visited the scene of the crime long after the incident and only asked questions to a few witnesses and the victim’s wife. They have not shown the same diligence they have exhibited when investigating cases of a political nature.
Dzamara’s disappearance was forced and therefore totally different from voluntary disappearances that some state actors have sought to make comparison with in their efforts to trivialise a tragedy. It is for this reason that it is difficult to believe our police could still claim to have failed to get a possible lead to the abduction that happened in broad daylight.
The timing of the reward — over four months after his disappearance and only following pressure brought to bear by concerned citizens and the international world betrays the lack of police interest in the matter.
Further, it becomes hard to believe the police are working hard enough to find him when President Robert Mugabe, in charge of all security arms including the police, publicly says the matter is none of his concern! Mugabe has been asked by many people and Parliament as well to address Dzamara’s disappearance but he has not bothered to respond. His spokesperson George Charamba justifies his silence by saying he has nothing to do with the issue.
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This attitude shows that the publicised efforts by the police appear nothing but a smokescreen to cover up for their total inaction.
