HARARE – Jailed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) politician and legislator Job Sikhala has reportedly fallen ill in prison, heightening opposition fears around his safety in the hands of the state.
According to journalist Hopewell Chin’ono who has closely followed Sikhala’s legal nightmares, the Chitungwiza lawmaker suffered severe diarrhoea.
“I have just spoken to Job Sikhala’s wife. She was not able to see the political prisoner at Chikurubi because he is too weak to walk.
“A doctor hasn’t attended to him yet.
“She said he is vomiting and suffering from severe diarrhoea,” Chin’ono said Sunday evening.
When he broke the news earlier in the day, Chin’ono said Sikhala’s lawyers had been called to Chikurubi by prison officials to bring a private doctor to attend to the tormented politician, who clocked 82 days in remand prison on Sunday.
He faces charges of inciting the violence that rocked Nyatsime area in June this year in the aftermath of party activist Moreblessing Ali’s shock murder by Zanu PF linked suspects.
He has had his bail attempts thrown out by the courts, prompting opposition claims the veteran politician was a political prisoner whose court processes are being remote controlled by the Zanu PF led administration.
Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi however denies any government interference into the opponent’s legal battles.
Sikhala’s health scare has sparked opposition fears the troubled lawmaker could suffer the fate of Learnmore Jongwe, the legendary founding legislator of the then MDC who died in prison 2002 under unclear circumstances while awaiting trial for knifing his wife to death.
