…two prison officers in court
By Decide Nhendo
Two Masvingo Remand Prison officers were dragged to Masvingo magistrate court facing assault charges after allegedly bashing an inmate for failing to flush the toilet.
The two, Nigel Chadenga and Nyasha Munjoma, pleaded not guilty to the charge when they appeared before Magistrate Ivy Jaona who remanded them out of custody until March 14, 2024.
It is the state’s case as presented by Tichaona Chakavarika that on January 5, 2022, the complainant Shakemore Mandanda (39), who was detained at Masvingo Remand Prison, went into the toilet to relieve himself around 1100hrs.
After he finished, he failed to locate a bucket to use to flush the toilet manually since the flush system was not working.
It is also alleged that Mandanda went outside the toilet to look for the bucket on the sink but found none.
He went and notified Polite Shoshori, another inmate responsible for the welfare of other prisoners, and told him that he had failed to find a bucket to flush, who said he was not concerned with that but only wanted to see the toilet clean.
The state also alleges that Shoshori went on and reported the issue to Chadenga and Munjoma who got furious, leading to Chadenga poking Mandanda with his finger on his face while Munjoma came and started to beat him with clenched fists, slapping him several times, resulting in him losing three teeth.
The matter was reported to the police though the state alleges that he was denied a chance to seek medical attention or report his matter to the police by the officer in charge and superintendent who were on duty at the prison on the day in question.
He later on reported the matter after he had been released from prison, leading to the arrest of the two officers.
