In a horrifying incident that has left many Zimbabweans in disbelief and outrage, the ZANU PF-led government has imprisoned a mother with her one-year-old child strapped to her back. This happened during a mass arrest of opposition activists, including former minister and MP Jameson Timba, who were allegedly attending an unlawful gathering. The image of an innocent baby locked behind bars with their mother is a haunting representation of the brutality that defines Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
To jail a mother is one thing but to imprison her with her baby reveals a complete collapse of morality and humanity at the highest levels of government. This child, barely able to speak or comprehend the world, has now been thrust into an environment of iron bars, filth, fear and trauma. The psychological damage of such an experience is not only immediate but potentially lifelong. Infants need comfort safety and stability. In a hostile prison setting, none of these needs can be met.
At just one year old children are particularly sensitive to their surroundings. This stage of development requires love not sirens compassion not confinement. The child’s emotional health is at severe risk. Detention centres are known to be overcrowded dirty and devoid of any resources needed for nurturing a child. Feeding changing and soothing a child cannot be done adequately in those conditions. The risk of disease trauma and neglect is extremely high.
If the mother is still breastfeeding, which is likely at this stage of the child’s life, then the child’s nutritional needs are also being compromised. Breastfeeding is not simply about food. It is an emotional and physical lifeline between mother and child. To disrupt that bond in a prison setting is nothing short of cruelty. It is state-sponsored violence against a child who has committed no crime except being born in a nation that is hostile to dissent.
Zimbabwean jails are notorious for their inhumane conditions. Countless reports have documented the squalor overcrowding and lack of basic health provisions. No child should be anywhere near such conditions. Yet here we are. The ruling elite has demonstrated once again that there is no depth too low when it comes to maintaining control and punishing critics. The mother’s only ‘crime’ was being suspected of organising or participating in an anti-government event. That alone is apparently enough to strip her and her child of all dignity.
This incident is more than just another statistic of repression. It is a glaring symbol of the disregard for human rights in Zimbabwe. The state is willing to destroy a child’s innocence to send a political message. That is the essence of dictatorship. The cruelty is deliberate the inhumanity is calculated. The aim is to instill fear in every citizen especially those who dare to dream of a better Zimbabwe.
The international community cannot stay silent. The image of a one-year-old behind bars must become a global rallying point. Human rights organizations the African Union SADC and the United Nations must speak with one voice. There must be condemnation action and accountability. Zimbabweans are not asking for favours. They are demanding dignity and the right to exist without fear.
To the ruling regime this may be just another headline but to the people of Zimbabwe it is one more wound added to a body already covered in scars. The nation is bleeding. And the children are suffering. This one-year-old child has been robbed of safety and peace by a system built on violence and paranoia. It must end.
We must never accept this as normal. We must never become numb to the sight of babies behind bars. This is our time to resist. To speak out. To fight back. And to say with one voice not in our name. Not ever again.
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