By Desire Tshuma
Harare — Special Gift Rambi left home recently to start his own life. On Friday morning, on Henley Drive in Derbyshire, Waterfalls, that life was almost taken away.
Rambi, a car wash operator, is now nursing suspected spinal injuries, a cut to his forehead, severe chest and back pain, and rib injuries after allegedly being assaulted by about 15 Harare Municipal Police officers during an enforcement operation. According to his brother, Previous Rambi, he lost his speech for 48 hours and lost power in his legs following the assault. He was rushed to Harare Central Hospital, where doctors suspected spinal cord damage.
“He looked so bad that most drivers were scared he could die in their car,” Previous said. The family eventually paid $20 to hire a car to the hospital, and another $20 to take him home after he was discharged around 7pm the same day. The family says a police report was made, and an investigation officer was assigned. Police wrote a letter so Rambi could be rushed to hospital quickly as he was losing consciousness. But the family is now questioning how the case was handled.
Previous says he was travelling back from out of town when his car broke down on Adbernie Road, next to OK Supermarket, at around past 10am. To his shock, he says, he saw the same crew of officers driving past him in a pick-up truck, heading to their Mbare base to offload their loot. “I made calls and was told they were released. Details are still shady as to how they were released after nearly killing someone, probably attempted murder. I’m not leading the case as the family friend is the one who wrote the report at the police,” Previous said. On Saturday morning, he says, he saw the same vehicle leaving the Mbare base again, going out for another operation.
The incident has also been captured on video posted online, showing Rambi lying motionless on the ground while officers attempt to drive away. Members of the public are seen stopping them from leaving. The family says video was only taken after the beating stopped, when people realised the officers were trying to leave without taking responsibility.
The family says Rambi’s car wash licence was due for renewal on 18 September and had expired. By 18 October, he was already a month in arrears. They acknowledge he was wrong to operate with an expired licence, but say the punishment did not fit the offence. “He is just telling me now that his payment was due 18 September, and he even told them he would go and pay on Monday but they did not want to listen,” Previous said. “They were demanding $40 on the spot. He asked to call me so I could maybe send money for renewal, which is actually $50. As family, we understand he was wrong operating with an expired licence, but is this how it should be handled?”
The family alleges the officers demanded a bribe of $40, just $10 less than the $50 renewal fee, and when Rambi could not produce it, he was beaten. Imagine paying $40 in bribe money to avoid paying $50, which is just $10 more, and you work in peace. Bribing them does not work, because a different team will show up within a week demanding more. He was hit with a baton stick on the head, Previous said. He has a head cut, straight next to the forehead. He is now also complaining of pains in the ribs and back. The family also claims the officers took all his car wash machines during the operation. “The hooligans were drunk when I eventually saw them. I was not surprised they acted that way,” Previous alleged.
The family has laid out the financial toll of the assault, which they say must be covered by the City of Harare. They paid $25 for a chest X-ray, $45 for scans, and $8 for medication at the hospital. They then bought further medication and bandages at a local pharmacy at Meru Filling Station for $9. Transport alone cost $40, $20 to the hospital and $20 back home, after InDrive drivers refused to transport a high-risk patient. “He was discharged same day after we paid all the necessary money needed for X-rays and scans as the doctors suspected spinal cord damage because he was losing power in his legs, and severe headache with a cut on his head,” Previous said. “He can now walk and his speech is back to normal as he had also lost speech ability for 48 hours. He is still complaining of back pain.”
Rambi is now going back to the hospital to get a letter and affidavit to take to the police station for further assistance with the case. The case has spilled onto social media, where a Facebook user, Gamue Chitete, is accused by the family of defending the officers and labelling Rambi a “mutoriro person” and claiming nothing was done to him. The family strongly rejects the claim, saying Rambi was not high on drugs but was lying lifeless on the ground after the beating.
Contacted for comment, Harare District Police Officer, Luckmore Chakanza, said he is now tracing the case as it had not yet reached his office. “I am now tracing the case as it was not yet in my office. I am now contacting Waterfalls Police Station where it was reported,” Chakanza said. City of Harare Spokesperson Stanley Gama said the matter had not yet been brought to his attention, but he is now investigating. “I am now investigating the issue as it has not yet come to my attention,” Gama said.
The alleged assault adds to growing concerns over the conduct of municipal police during crackdowns on informal traders, vendors and car wash operators in Harare. Human rights activists have repeatedly called for training, accountability and the professionalisation of municipal enforcement units, warning that excessive force erodes public trust. For Rambi’s family, the issue is now about accountability and survival. “If this one life is lost, how many more should be lost again before you start respecting people’s lives and stop your overzealous untrained metro police staff?” Previous asked. “The law should not only work for the enforcers only, but the citizens too.”