World cannot remain silent as Zimbabwean crisis escalates

The scale of abductions of political activists and journalists in Zimbabwe is alarming. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is determined to suppress dissenting voices at all costs.

Recently a student journalist, Tawanda Muchehiwa, was abducted and severely tortured by his captors at an unknown location. He suffered kidney failure before being released following a ruling by a high court judge who ordered his release within 72 hours.

The world should not be silent when regimes clamp down on the constitutional rights of their citizens.

When the world remains silent, it is clearly on the side of the oppressor. The world should challenge, expose and condemn the rogue practices of the Zimbabwean government, and demand stability in that country which will stem the tide of mass emigration witnessed in recent times.

— Kudzai Chikowore, via e-mail