Home Affairs deputy minister Ziyambi Ziyambi says police are complying with a High Court order to provide fortnightly updates on progress made in the search for missing journalist-cum-pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara, Parliament heard this week.
BY STAFF REPORTER
Ziyambi said this in the National Assembly on Wednesday in response to a question from MDC-T MP Tetty Banda who had asked why the government had not found Dzamara.
“I think it is on record that we have appealed even to the Honourable members in this august House to assist us if they know where Itai Dzamara is, or if there is any lead so that the police can carry out their constitutional duty of searching everywhere in the country,” Ziyambi said.
But MDC-T chief whip Innocent Gonese demanded that Ziyambi respond directly to the “why” part of the question to which the junior minister retorted: “The appeal still stands. We are still appealing to all Zimbabweans to assist the police with information that can lead to the whereabouts of Itai Dzamara.”
He claimed police were doing everything possible to comply with whatever the court had directed them to do.
“If they do not have any progress report, they do not have anything to submit. The police are not only concerned about missing Itai Dzamara, but anyone who is missing. They will do their constitutional duty to ensure that they are found,” Ziyambi said.
“We have fully complied with whatever order we have been given and if the court is not satisfied, they know the due process to summon us.”
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But as pressure continues to mount, the Canadian embassy in Harare issued a statement demanding the government redouble its efforts to find Dzamara who was allegedly abducted by State agents three months ago.
“Canada remains deeply concerned for his health and safety; troubled that to date there has been no information forthcoming as to his condition or whereabouts; and disappointed that the government of Zimbabwe has not done more to communicate its efforts to find Itai and bring to justice those responsible,” the embassy said in a statement.
“We call on the government of Zimbabwe to redouble its efforts in determining the fate and whereabouts of Itai Dzamara and to provide regular reports to the public — and more importantly to his family — about the progress of its investigation.”
Canada said it recognised Zimbabwe’s efforts to re-engage with the international community.
“This engagement must be accompanied by tangible demonstration by the government that it is seeking to protect the human rights of its citizens that are guaranteed in Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution,” the embassy said.
The Canadian statement immediately drew support from the United States embassy in Harare after the Americans picked it up and shared it on social media.
Dzamara disappeared without a trace after he was abducted by suspected State security agents on March 9 and has not been seen ever since.
Reports indicate that President Robert Mugabe‘s government was under pressure from the United Nations to find Dzamara and has since opened a file at the Foreign Affairs ministry on the case.
