Jacob Ngarivhume. Picture: Facebook
JOHANNESBURG - EFF leader Julius Malema has slammed the government of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangwagwa for jailing opposition party leader Jacob Ngarivhume.
Malema expressed shock via Twitter at Ngarivhume’s imprisonment for seeking accountability over Covid-19 funds.
"I was shocked to hear that the Zimbabwean government has jailed Jacob Ngarivhume," Malema said.
Ngarivhume, the president of Transform Zimbabwe and the convener of the 31st July Protests, recently demanded that the government of Zimbabwe account for the Covid funds.
He was arrested after leading and organising the July 31, 2020, anti-corruption protests.
Ngarivhume was convicted by Harare magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka on April 28, 2023, and sentenced on April 28 to 48 months' imprisonment, with 12 months suspended.
"I was shocked to hear that the Zimbabwean government has jailed Jacob Ngarivhume for demanding accountability through picket lines on how Covid-19 funds were used in 2020 by kleptocratic politicians," Malema said.
The leader of the EFF said sending activists and opposition political party leaders to jail showed a lack of political maturity and was undemocratic.
"Sending an activist to four years of imprisonment for simply holding different political views is pathetic. Zimbabweans must learn to protect their own, particularly those who are the voice of the voiceless against the corrupt few. The truth will never be incarcerated; Africa is one," Malema added.
Many political and civil organisation leaders have also spoken out against the arrest of Ngarivhume following his sentencing, with Bishop Ancelimo Magaya calling it a “mockery” of the justice system.
"It is with a very heavy and saddened heart that I learn of the sentencing of an opposition leader, a son of the church, and a very dear brother in the Lord: Jacob Ngarivhume. Our prayers are with Nyasha, his wife, and the children, together with those that look up to him for leadership.
“It is very ironic that this has happened at a time when we have just had shocking revelations of the rot within the corridors of power, manifesting through gold laundering," the Bishop said in a statement.