When they buried him, tribute to the police-kombi war child victim

By The NewsDay | Apr. 24, 2014 | 3 Min read

Unfortunately, as fate has it, Neil is never going to wake up as the fresh wreath-decorated mound of the sandy Granville soil is his new permanent home.

The two men scrap the dry surface to get the last shovel loads of earth needed to finish the job.

REPORT BY TAPIWA ZIVIRA men fill up the grave of Neil Mutyora during his burial at the Graneville cemetery Dozens of people gather around and break into song: “Muka Jonah tinamate…”

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Their voices are laced with pain and sorrow so intense it sounds like a direct appeal to God to wake the three-year old Neil Tanatswa Mutyora. Unfortunately, as fate has it, Neil is never going to wake up as the fresh wreath-decorated mound of the sandy Granville soil is his new permanent home. 1-_MG_8911 When the pastor says the painful dust-to-dust farewell, Anna Kiti -Neil’s sister-in-law- breaks down as she cannot understand how such a young life was cut short under such unfortunate circumstances.

The innocent boy is the latest victim of the confrontations between traffic police and commuter omnibus crews; he was run over by a commuter omnibus that was fleeing from police on Tuesday. Neil’s father, Cuthbert, shakes his head, takes a look at the grave and sheds a tear, refusing to blame the driver for the death of his son and points his finger at the police. Cuthbert speaks in this video He declares his intentions to boycott the court sessions if the driver- who has since been arrested and charged with culpable homicide – is not jointly charged with the police officer who was allegedly chasing the commuter omnibus when the incident occurred.

“Without the police who caused this there is no justice and I will not be at the court. They killed my light, my future and son as senselessly as they have done others in their bid for bribe money.”

In a country with a closed public sphere and a fear to speak out, people openly talked about the injustice and brutality of “a police force without people at heart.” An aggrieved neighbour to the Mutyoras blamed the police for prioritising the wrong issues:

“In Rugare a 10 year old was raped and most recently a body was found. There was nothing these police officers did to arrest the offenders. Do you see how they all want to work in the traffic division? It is clear why. Money is the problem. Bribe money is the problem.”

Meanwhile, as the Mutyora family laid the wreaths and performed the last burial rituals, police were issuing a statement in response to NewsDay‘s for its coverage of the accident. charity-charamba-etched Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba (pictured left) said:

“The Zimbabwe Republic Police is concerned with the reckless and malicious reportage meant to tarnish the image of the police and to weep (sic) up emotions amongst the public with the intention of turning the same public against the police and at the same time the ZRP will not allow journalists to advocate for a lawless country.

“This follows a front page article headlined “Chihuri you’re responsible” by the NewsDay’s Staff Reporter and The editorial comment titled ‘Child Kombi death: Buck stops with ZRP’ published on Thursday, April 24, 2014 blaming the police for causing a road traffic accident…” Charamba denies the involvement of police in the accident.

EXCERPTS FROM CHARAMBA’S STATEMENT “For the record, no police officer was involved in that accident. We expect reporters to verify facts before accusing the police.” “The true facts of the matter are that Kusotera Lloyd NR 63-123973Y – 07 aged 29 of number 10950 Ngezi Close, Budiriro 5A, Harare who was driving a Toyota Hiace Reg Number ACQ 7293 was picking up passengers at an undesignated point at corner Chinhoyi Street and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue.””Upon seeing police details who were on decongestion duties, Kusotera Lloyd, drove at high speed against a one-way along Chinhoyi Street towards Samora Machel Avenue. Such a high irresponsibility is not even an issue for the journalist who reported,” “We expect the journalist to play a pivotal role in ensuring that these rowdy murderers are reined instead of blaming the Commissioner General of Police (Augustine Chihuri) for act that has been committed by Commuter Omnibus drivers. This is personal attack on the Commissioner General of Police and is unacceptable.”