BULAWAYO – Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni, the outspoken Ntabazinduna traditional chief, faces jail time after he was convicted of malicious damage to property on Thursday.

Ndiweni, an outspoken critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime, was spending the night in a jail cell at Khami Prison after Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Muzambi remanded him and 23 others in custody to Friday for sentencing.

The magistrate’s decision to order the 24 detained strongly hinted that they all face jail time. The offence can be dealt with by way of a fine, but it can also attract a jail sentence of up to 25 years.

Ndiweni and the 23 villagers were accused of destroying a kraal and garden fence of a fellow villager, Fetti Mbele.

Mbele had been banished by a traditional court from Ndiweni’s area after his wife was caught romping with another man.

The chief’s incarceration came a day after he circulated a video calling on Zimbabweans to heed a call by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to participate in anti-government street protests – which he now might not witness.

David Coltart, a senior MDC leader and human rights lawyer, said: “I’m appalled to hear that Chief Ndiweni has been detained and is being held at Khami Prison this evening. This is profoundly shocking but not surprising. So much for the ‘new dispensation’.”

Zanu PF’s secretary for administration Obert Mpofu was one of the witnesses to testify during the trial after Chief Ndiweni accused him of instigating his arrest. The chief said Mpofu had sought ways to “fix” him after he filed a police report, accusing the then Home Affairs Minister in charge of the police of having stolen 200 cattle from his late father, Chief Khayisa Ndiweni.

Prosecutors said Mbele was ordered to leave the village with his wife, Nonkangelo Mpengesi, who was caught having sex with another villager.

When Mbele delayed his departure, the court heard, a group of villagers led by headman Kimpton Sibanda, 72, besieged his home on July 26 last year and began destroying his kraal and a garden fence.

“At around 5PM, Chief Ndiweni arrived and ordered the villagers to continue destroying Mr Mbele’s fence and kraal,” prosecutor Kudakwashe Jaravaza told the chief’s trial.

On Thursday night, the hashtag #FreeChiefNdiweni was trending as Zimbabweans demanded his release.