July 30, 2024 was a day when the grieving family of slain Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist, Mboneni Ncube, was supposed to mark the final resting place of the deceased in peace.

His father, Kephas Ncube, however, said the family was left further traumatised and devastated after police tried to stop his son’s tombstone unveiling ceremony.

“Losing my son was painful enough, but disturbing the tombstone unveiling ceremony is the worst experience a parent can endure,” Kephas said during the event held at his rural home in Lower Gweru, Midlands, on Sunday.

This publication gathered that police tried to stop the event from proceeding, visiting and intimidating the family days before the ceremony.

A day before the ceremony, police mounted several roadblocks turning away people suspected to be going to attend the event.

On the day, dozens of CCC members were also arrested at some of the roadblocks and detained in Gweru on their way to attend to pay their respects to the deceased.

Ncube was speared to death by suspected Zanu PF activists on February 27, 2022 during a rally in Mbizo, Kwekwe.

Ncube died on admission at Kwekwe General Hospital.

Zanu PF youths armed with machetes, stones and iron bars stormed the opposition party’s rally and violently disrupted it, while former CCC president Nelson Chamisa was addressing the crowd.

They were arrested at Jessie Lodge, owned by former State Security minister Owen “Mudha” Ncube.

Police arrested 16 suspects after the gruesome murder, with all of them linked to the ruling Zanu PF party.

Two years after the gruesome murder, his killers are still roaming the streets freely with his murder having developed into a cold case.

“Police visited and asked a lot of questions about this tombstone unveiling ceremony and demanding details of CCC people who were assisting us,” Kephas said.

“I told them I had no business taking down their details, and if they (police) were interested in those details, they should come during the tombstone unveiling ceremony and ask the concerned people for the information they wanted.

“We are devastated as a family because some people including relatives, who wanted to attend the memorial service are not with us after they were intimidated or arrested.

“I am mourning with the CCC people. The CCC people have been with us from the time he was murdered.”

Kephas added: “What pains us the most is that we do not know what has happened to the case.

“Personally, I have never been invited to the courts to hear this case; we have not been updated as to whether his murder is still being investigated, or it has been dumped.

“We are in total darkness.”

Mboneni left behind a daughter, who is now in Grade 3.

In August 2022, one of the key witnesses, Brighton Nyirenda, was physically attacked with logs by the suspects for showing up in court for their routine remand.

Ncube’s sister, Judith, was in the same month snatched and bundled into an unmarked vehicle, before being taken to a suspected Zanu PF base where she was threatened to drop her push for justice.

After Mboneni’s death, reports emerged that suspected Central Intelligence Organisation operatives had attempted to hijack the funeral.

Zanu PF supporters also tried to claim the body of the deceased at Kwekwe Central Hospital.

The Zanu PF youths, who were reportedly linked to the Al Shabaab militia group, later stormed the funeral gathering and chased away CCC supporters.

“We have not known any peace ever since my son was murdered,” Kephas said.

“We failed to mourn his death in peace, now we can’t have peace again at his tombstone unveiling ceremony.”

CCC Mbizo legislator, Corban Madzivanyika, condemned Zanu PF and the police for tormenting the deceased and his family.

“It’s inconsistent with our cultural values to torment someone, especially the dead,” Madzivanyika said.

“Unveiling a tombstone has nothing to do with politics; it’s more to do with consoling the family of the bereaved.”

Madzivanyika said the family needed closure.

“This was a brilliant opportunity to bring full closure as people gather in memory and consolation of family and relatives,” he said.

“We expected the event to be well attended to the delight of the immediate family, who would find peace and comfort in having people around them and showing support for their loved one.

“The family would have found eternal peace if all people who believed in the vision of their callously murdered member gathered at their private residence as a firm show of solidarity.”

He added: “However, what the security services did worsened the already difficult situation… This causes reinfection of scars on the already saddened hearts of their parents.

“It’s indeed a sad situation.”

Madzivanyika said the CCC was supporting the family of the deceased.

Heal Zimbabwe Trust advocacy officer, Tapiwanashe Chiriga, said it was disheartening that Mboneni continued to be tormented even in death.

“Memorialisation is one key pillar of transitional justice which the state should have respected even as they have failed to deliver justice for Mboneni,” Chiriga said.

“Zimbabwean families whose loved ones have lost lives as a result of political violence have continuously been revictimised by a paranoid state as happened to the Ncube family during the tombstone unveiling ceremony.

“It is important that families are allowed to grieve and remember their loved ones so that they find closure.”

He urged the state to investigate and bring to justice all perpetrators of politically motivated violence and bring closure to families that have lost their loved ones like Mboneni’s family.

“The prevailing culture of impunity emboldens perpetrators of violence which creates a never ending cycle of political intolerance and violence,” Chiriga said.

Reverend Ray Motsi said the state has failed Mboneni’s family.

“The government must be people based and not power preoccupied,” Motsi said.

“ People like the Mbongenis must be reassured that they belong and they are Zimbabwean citizens who have bona fide rights

“Justice must not only be talked about but must be seen to have been done otherwise there is not going to be any closure for the victim.”

Political analyst Effie Ncube said attempts to disrupt the memorial service of the slain CCC activist were embarrassing for the country.

“The police are overreacting and creating unnecessary scenes that undermine the image of the country and the rights of the bereaved individuals and communities,” Ncube said.

“This country can’t afford to be on the headlines for wrong reasons. Bad news deter investors and tourists..”

He said the rights of all citizens must be respected.

“In our culture mourning the dead is a solemn occasion in which all must be in their best behaviour so that the bereaved may start the process of healing and closure,” Ncube said.

“You don’t torment a person when they are alive and when they have died a violent death which should not have happened.

“Burials and memorials must be respected by all including by the government, political parties and community stakeholders.

“That way the family and community can find closure. We must love and respect each other as a people and stay away from offending others.”

A number of CCC members have been abducted, killed and tortured by suspected Zanu PF activists as the ruling party seeks to maintain its hold on power.

The majority of the suspects have not been brought to book.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa had promised peace and tolerance, and a break from the country’ dark chapter of human right’s violations.

Mnangagwa’s critics have accused him of further shrinking the democratic space. — Standard