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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
Three of 26 illegal vendors arrested last week on allegations of using stones and iron bars to attack municipal police officers for dismantling their market stall along Speke Avenue in Harare, will remain in custody after they were denied bail yesterday.

The three were arrested last week on Thursday alongside 23 others who paid fines for “conduct likely to cause breach of peace” and were released.

However, Paul Manjarira (29), Edwin Nyatsungo (30) and Vusa Dzafunwa (45) remained in police custody after they were charged with assault.

They initially appeared before Mr Tendai Mahwe on Friday last week and were remanded in custody to yesterday (Monday) for bail application.

When they appeared in court yesterday, the State, led by Ms Sharon Mashavira, strongly opposed bail on the basis that there was overwhelming evidence.

Mr Mahwe ruled in favour of the State and denied them bail.

In his ruling, he said; “The State’s case is strong since there is overwhelming evidence against the trio who were arrested at the crime scene. The accused persons are facing a serious offence and iron bars were used to assault the municipal cops.

“The possibility of conviction is high and it would not be in the interest of justice to release them on bail as they may abscond.”

Ms Mashavira told the court that the three were not proper candidates for bail and should be locked up.

“Your Worship, there is a clean-up operation titled ‘Guta Ngarichene’ and there has been some municipal cops who have been sent on patrol and these vendors are showing resistance against municipal by-laws by attacking and assaulting law enforcement agents.

“They do not deserve to be in society, they belong in custody. There is risk of interference with witnesses since they are the ringleaders of these rebels. They have been inciting violence in the CBD and, if released, they will mobilise others still at large and re-offend,” she said.

The trio, through their lawyer, Mr Kudzayi Kadzere of Kadzere, Hungwe and Mandevere legal practitioners, argued that they were proper candidates for bail.

Mr Mandevere submitted that his clients were at the crime scene because they were guards and were responsible for the security of the vendors’ wares.

“Your Worship, my clients never assaulted anyone. In fact, one of the accused persons was actually struck on the head with an iron bar by the municipal cops and he collapsed only to wake up at the police station charged with assault. There is no risk of interference with witnesses because they do not even know who the complainant is since his or her name is not mentioned in the State papers,” he said.

The State alleges that Manjarira, Nyatsungo and Dzafunwa assaulted municipal police officers with stones and iron bars as they resisted their removal from illegal market stalls in the CBD to designated selling sites.