CHECHECHE – Eleven schoolchildren from Katanga Secondary School in Manicaland are suing Green Fuel (Pvt) Ltd and three of its security guards, seeking US$110,000 in damages over a brutal assault earlier this year.
The children, aged between 13 and 17, were allegedly attacked by guards who accused them of stealing sugarcane from the company’s fields in Chisumbanje.
According to the summons filed at Chipinge Magistrates Court on Friday, the children were ordered to lie on their stomachs and were repeatedly flogged with switches.
The assault was reportedly filmed by one of the guards, and the videos later circulated widely on social media.
The security guards named in the lawsuit are Makina Ngwenya, Benjamin Dube, and Munorwei Gomondera, who are alleged to have acted within the scope of their duties at the ethanol-producing company.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) lawyers Tatenda Sigauke and Peggy Tavagadza, representing the children’s parents and guardians, said the minors sustained injuries, including swollen backsides, and were unable to walk properly for some time.
The lawyers further argued that the children suffered shock, physical and psychological trauma, emotional distress, humiliation, and a violation of their dignity.
They described the ordeal as “grievous and psychologically traumatising” given the victims’ young ages and the viral spread of the assault videos.
A statement from the ZLHR reads in part:
“Sigauke and Tavagadza want the court to order Ngwenya, Dube, Gomondera and Green Fuel to pay a total of US$110 000, which entails payment of US$10 000 to each student, for damages for pain and suffering, shock, trauma, contumelia and violation of dignity.
“In addition, the human rights lawyers want the court to order Green Fuel to issue a public apology to the students, their parents, their guardians and the community of Chisumbanje and to denounce the illegal conduct of its security guards as unacceptable, unjustified and contrary to the respect owed to members of the community and to commit to taking all necessary measures to ensure that such despicable acts do not recur.
“The apology, the lawyers said, should be published in a newspaper circulating within Manicaland province and should also be broadcast on Vemuganga Community Radio once every day for five days and on Green Fuel’s social media platforms and company notice boards for a continuous period of 14 days.”
