SIKHALA’S INCARCERATION IS A WARNING TO US ALL

The continued unconstitutional incarceration of opposition firebrand lawmaker Job Sikhala, a man legitimately elected by the people in his constituency, should give every thinking Zimbabwean sleepless nights. His community, like many across the country, is now denied legitimate representation in parliament. A parliament whose majority, we all know, was shamelessly rigged—thanks to the partisan, grossly incompetent, militarized, and politicized Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

But the greatest betrayal in this sickening drama is not even ZEC—it is the judiciary. The judiciary, which should be our final shield against tyranny, has been fully captured, compromised, corrupted, politicized, and weaponized. It is being used not to protect the people, but to serve the whims and paranoia of a regime desperate to cling to illegitimate power.

Let that sink in.

This is the same judiciary that is supposed to be independent. The same judiciary that is supposed to protect you from an overreaching state, especially in times of authoritarian madness. Instead, it is now at the forefront of political persecution, doing the dirty work of a regime made up of pests and parasites. Yes, pests and parasites—those infesting the illegitimate, vile, terrorist, criminal, plundering, looting, extracting, illicitly self-enriching, people’s welfare neglecting, and supreme law of the land bashing, mutilating, violating and assaulting ZANU PF.

A captured judiciary is no judiciary at all—it’s just another weapon in the dictator’s hand.

Job Sikhala’s prolonged and illegal detention is not just about him. It is about you. It is about all of us. Because if they can do this to Sikhala, they can do it to your brother, your neighbour, or even you. Today it is Sikhala, tomorrow it could be you for merely thinking differently or daring to speak truth to power.

This is the dangerous precedent that we must all recognize. When rule of law collapses, replaced by rule by law—where the law is manipulated to suit the whims of a criminal cartel—then no one is safe. Rights vanish. Due process dies. And power becomes nothing but brute force masked as law.

Why is Sikhala still in jail? Because his presence outside the bars is a threat to those inside the corridors of stolen power. His voice is dangerous because it speaks what millions feel. His courage is unbearable to cowards who rule by fear. His very existence challenges the existence of a regime whose survival depends on silencing truth, on terrorizing dissent, on neutering the Constitution.

They rule. They do not govern.

Let’s be clear: this illegitimate regime is not interested in good governance. It is not interested in law, order, justice, or service delivery. It is interested in looting. Period. It seeks power only to continue its unaccountable extraction and plunder of both fiscal and natural resources. Resources meant for the welfare of Zimbabweans are instead diverted to maintain a parasitic elite. This is why they fear Sikhala. This is why they fear the recently reinvigorated, inventive, transparent, accountable, pro-people opposition. Because that opposition would restore the rule of law and end the culture of theft.

The unlawful detention of Sikhala proves that the system has collapsed. Zimbabwe no longer respects constitutionalism. What we now have is the façade of law—rule by law—but it is used not for justice but for vengeance. It is used to protect looters and punish patriots. It is used to silence the brave and embolden the wicked.

Sikhala’s case is a warning. If we do not fight for him, no one will be left to fight for us.