THE Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZHLR) has set up a fund to pay the legal fees of Tsholotsho villager Lot Zondo (51) who is one of several villagers that were allegedly tortured by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) rangers in a bid to extract information on the source of the cyanide used to poison over 100 elephants at the Hwange National Park.
RICHARD MUPONDE SENIOR COURT REPORTER ZHLR lawyer Lison Ncube yesterday confirmed that his organisation had set up a fund for Zondo to enable him to get justice for the torture.
“We have set a fund to represent him, but we could not interfere much in his case as we gathered that he had consulted another lawyer in the city (Bulawayo). But as I speak the fund is there,” he said.
Ncube would not divulge how much the fund currently has.
Zondo told Southern Eye he had already instituted legal proceedings against Zimparks through his lawyer Robert Ndlovu of R Ndlovu and Company Legal Practitioners, who has prepared the papers that were due to be filed last Saturday.
“I’m suing them for torturing me,” said Zondo.
“My lawyer finished doing the papers last week and he was supposed to file them over the weekend.
“I want them to compensate me for the torture.”
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
However, Ndlovu could not be reached for comment on his mobile phone and a woman who answered the phone at his office said he was out until Monday.
Zondo’s torture, which was first reported by Southern Eye last week, drew widespread condemnation from human rights activists.
He narrated his five-day ordeal at the hands of Zimparks rangers saying his genitals were burnt after he and others were forced to squat over braziers.
Zondo claims to now suffer from a weak bladder and that as a result of the barbaric torture, he cannot be intimate with his wife.
