HARARE – The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) has filed papers defending the premature release of once trending rape inmate, Bobby Makaza under a recent presidential amnesty which sparked protests from rights defenders for setting rapists on the loose.

Makaza, 60, was jailed for 16 years at Chikurubi Maximum Prison after he was in April 2019 convicted for raping a 9-year-old minor in 2018.

He was among thousands of convicts who benefitted May this year from a prison amnesty decreed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

During interviews with journalists upon his release from jail, an ecstatic Makaza chanted from a bus window, “Mnangagwa huchi (is sweet)”.

Now commonly referred to as “Mnangagwa huchi rapist” Makaza’s video image went viral on social media, eliciting complaints from the public which felt the president’s overflowing leniency should never have benefitted child sex predators.

Aggrieved by Makaza’s premature release and his gloating tone, the minor’s parents, helped by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) filed an application at Harare High Court on 14 July 2023 seeking an order for the issuance of a warrant of arrest for Makaza.

ZLHR’s Tinashe Chinopfukutwa and Paidamoyo Saurombe, argued through their court challenge that under section 12(d) as read with 13(c) of Clemency Order No.1 of 2023, Makaza, a convict in a specified offence, should not have been included among beneficiaries of the amnesty.

In his opposing affidavit and on behalf of ZPCS, acting Commissioner-General, Shepherd Mpofu defended Makaza’s release arguing it was primarily based on Clemency Order Number 1 of 2023 in which full remission of sentence was granted to prisoners with 60 years and above regardless of offence save for those who were sentenced to life imprisonment, death, or those convicted of public violence.

Mpofu argued that the minor’s parents should not be aggrieved by Makaza’s release from prison stating the Clemency Order was promulgated in terms of the law and ought to be respected by every law abiding citizen of Zimbabwe.

Mpofu said the minor and her parents need professional counseling in order to understand the essence of the crime, conviction, sentence and release of Makaza.

The case is yet to be set down for hearing.