Botswana chief flogs Zimbabweans

A GROUP of Zimbabwean men sustained severe injuries after they were flogged by a chief in Botswana for entering the neighbouring country illegally.

The nine men, who said they were forced to undress, were allegedly flogged on their buttocks with a whip.

Five women who were also part of the group were ordered to pay varying fines.

They were then detained for one day at Gerald Prison in Francistown.

The group was later deported to Zimbabwe on Tuesday afternoon and reportedly made a report at the Plumtree Border Post Police Base.

One of the victims of the assault, Ezekiel Mukuya, who is from Chivhu area, said he was unable to sit for three days because of the severity of the injuries.

He said he was arrested on June 29 at Tati Siding in Francistown while on his way to work.

"I work in Botswana as a tout and on the day that I was arrested my passport had a problem. I was intercepted by the Botswana Police around 9AM while I was on my way to work.

"They loaded us into a vehicle together with other illegal immigrants and we were taken to the homestead of a chief in the area who was identified as Chief Nkgageng," he said.

Mukuya said he and the other men were separated from the women, taken into a room where they were ordered to undress.

They were ordered to lie down on the floor and were each whipped on the buttocks with switches by the chief's police officers.

Mukuya said he sustained cuts and bruises as a result of the assault which made it impossible for him to sit down.

"When we were taken to the chief's homestead, we appeared before his community court. We begged to be pardoned after pointing out that we were in their country just to make a living and not to cause any problems but they would not entertain us.

"The chief told us that we would receive six cuts as corporal punishment for being in the country illegally. I'm still in pain but at least I can now sit, though not comfortably," he said.

Mukuya said he felt violated as he assumed that illegal immigrants had to be taken to court and then deported.

A woman who was part of the group, Finance Moyo of Mambale area in Mangwe District, said she was arrested on June 26.

She said she and other female deportees were not caned but were ordered to pay fines.

Moyo said she was not given any receipt as proof of payment after tendering P200.

A senior police officer in Plumtree said they engaged their Botswana counterparts and were told that according to their law, the chief's customary court is recognised.

The police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said chiefs are responsible for giving corporal punishment of six cuts. He said all nine men sustained severe injuries on their buttocks as a result of the assault.

Illegal immigrants have in the past fallen victim to brutality by law enforcement agents from the neighbouring country.

Recently, 35-year-old Oscar Kani of Mkhubazi Village in Mangwe, died after he was allegedly assaulted severely by Botswana Police for illegal migration.

He was collected by a relative from a hospital in the neighbouring country while unconscious and died upon admission to a local hospital.

Another villager, Qhawe Moyo, 40, who is from Nkedile area in Mangwe District, died after he was shot by Botswana law enforcement agents in a suspected case of smuggling.

Alters Ndebele, 23, of Tshankwa area in Bulilima District was shot and wounded by Botswana soldiers who caught him trying to enter the neighbouring country through an illegal point. They later dumped him in a bushy area where he was picked up by passersby who ferried him to hospital.

In another incident, a 21-year-old Bulilima woman died after being denied medical assistance while detained at a police station in Botswana.

Nonhlanhla Ndebele was arrested for illegal migration while she was critically ill and on her way to her home area.

Police detained her for four days and she later died after succumbing to chest pains and difficulties in breathing.