Job Sikhala has once again shaken the conscience of the world. Speaking at the UN 16th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, the former Zimbabwean MP and long-persecuted opposition figure delivered a powerful testimony of pain, resilience and defiance. For nearly thirty years, he has faced relentless political persecution under ZANU PF’s iron-fisted rule. Arrested 68 times for simply daring to speak truth to power, his most recent imprisonment has become a symbol of the regime’s cruelty and fear of accountability.
Sikhala’s crime was standing up for justice. After the brutal murder of Moreblessing Ali, a fellow opposition activist and single mother, he chose to represent her family. Her mutilated body was found dumped in a well. For offering legal support to her family, Sikhala was arrested on June 14, 2022 and thrown into Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. He remained there without trial for 595 days, enduring some of the worst human rights violations imaginable. He was denied food, medicine and even basic legal access. He was locked in solitary confinement and chained to a hospital bed while gravely ill. This was not justice. It was revenge.
ZANU PF’s strategy was obvious. By targeting Sikhala, the regime hoped to silence one of its most effective critics ahead of the 2023 elections. But it did not stop with him. His wife Ellen was arrested on a fake traffic charge to prevent her from supporting him. His legal practice was sabotaged. Six students from the University of Zimbabwe were detained for the simple act of demanding his release. What kind of government arrests students for standing up for a lawyer who defended a murdered woman’s family? Only a regime that sees every act of conscience as a threat.
Sikhala used the Geneva stage not just to recount his torment but to lay bare the hell that ordinary Zimbabweans face every day. He spoke of a country ruled by torture, economic collapse and fear. A country where the ruling elite grows richer while the youth drown in poverty and drug addiction. A country where hospitals have no medicine, schools have no books and freedom is disappearing with each new repressive law. This is the Zimbabwe that ZANU PF has created.
He also warned of the worsening climate crisis that threatens to push Zimbabwe further into humanitarian disaster. With droughts affecting Southern Africa, the question of food security becomes a matter of life and death. Yet even in crisis, the regime cannot be trusted to distribute aid fairly. Corruption and cronyism come before the needs of the people.
But Sikhala did not only speak of pain. He called for hope. He asked the international community to support the National Democratic Working Group, a coalition determined to return Zimbabwe to democracy. He asked the world not to turn away. He reminded everyone that the silence of good people gives power to tyrants. His final words were a prayer. A blessing. Even after everything he has endured, he still believes in humanity.
Job Sikhala’s message is not just about Zimbabwe. It is about every place where leaders abuse power and treat justice as a weapon. It is a cry for solidarity. It is a demand for action. Those who listened to him in Geneva now carry a responsibility. To ignore this call is to become complicit. The time to act is now. Because every day the world stays silent, Zimbabwe’s pain deepens.
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