Chibhebhe’s lawyer accuses Bvudzijena of stage-managing assault

By Lance Guma
18 August 2006

The policeman who assaulted trade union leader Wellington Chibhebhe did not know who his victim was at the time of the incident. According to Chibhebhe’s lawyer Alec Muchadehama, it is only when one of the policemen present at the roadblock identified the union leader that police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena was alerted to the potentially damaging incident. Bvudzijena is alleged to have told his officers to claim Chibhebhe had assaulted one of them and that he refused to co-operate at the roadblock.

A furious Muchadehama told Newsreel that the officer who assaulted his client is the one who ended up filing a complaint for assault while Chibhebhe was told he could not make a counter-claim. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) Secretary General is out on Z$2000 bail and has been ordered not to interfere with the four witnesses who, strangely, are all policemen. Muchadehama told of how Chibhebhe was strangled while he was still strapped in the seat belt in his car. This was then followed by several slaps to the face as they dragged him out of the car. All this happened because he had challenged the legality of the currency searches.

The lawyer told us that the reason Chibhebhe spent two days in custody was because of instructions issued by Assistant Commissioner Bvudzijena. The case docket was completed a day after the arrest but Bvudzijena is alleged to have told officers to hold Chibhebhe for an extra day, a rare phenomenon in cases of assault, Muchadehama explained.