OPPOSITION politician Job Sikhala has dispelled rumours that he is in exile vowing to come back home soon after being cleared by his medical team, despite threats of arrest by the State.
Sikhala left Zimbabwe soon after his release from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison where he had been incarcerated for 595 days in a case which has been widely described as politically-motivated.
While out of the country, Sikhala delivered a speech at the United Nations Human Rights and Democracy Summit in Geneva last month, chronicling the deplorable state of human rights in the country and how he had endured 595 days of pre-trial incarceration.
His speech has, however, rattled government officials with government spokesperson Ndavaningi Mangwana accusing Sikhala of lying while some called for his arrest on return.
Sikhala yesterday told NewsDay that he was unfazed by the State’s threats.
“The threats of my arrest are not something new that I can be afraid of,” Sikhala said.
“It has been the habit of the regime to persecute me everytime things become untenable for them to run the country to the satisfaction of the citizenry.
“I wonder whether my arrest will assist them in delivering miracles to solve the challenges our country is gripped with. Desperation leads to desperate actions.”
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He said his Geneva speech was in compliance with the dictates of international law.
“I was invited and accredited by the United Nations Human Rights Council, one of the six organs of the United Nations,” Sikhala said.
“The content of my speech was unadulterated and the truthful expression of the experience I went through for a period of two years I was kept incommunicado by the regime.
“What I went through and the obtaining human rights situation in Zimbabwe and the examples of concrete human rights abuses that were committed are unassailable.”
Sikhala, however, said he was still concerned over his health.
“When my medical issues are completed and I have been released by my medical team, I will jet back to the country the following day,” Sikhala said.
“On whether my security will be guaranteed or whether it is safe to come back to my country, I don’t have two homes. I don’t have any other country. Zimbabwe is my home and country.
“I will prosper or fail in my country. I am rooted in Zimbabwe. I will live and die in Zimbabwe. Whatever happens can happen and I will never ever be a fugitive from my own country.”
