Harare, Zimbabwe — Six years after the disappearance of Zimbabwean journalist Itai Dzamara, his wife Sheffra is still demanding answers about his whereabouts from the authorities of this country’s regime.
On March 9, 2015, Sheffra said unidentified men outside the barbershop in the vicinity of the couple’s home in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, seized her then 35-year-old husband accusing him of livestock theft before bundling him into one of their unmarked vehicles and sped off.
Since then, Itai’s whereabouts have remained a mystery.
“My message today is we will not forget Itai and we pray that we get answers and we hope the government of Zimbabwe will help us to find him or to find the abductors,” said Sheffra.
A journalist by profession and founder of a pro-democracy movement called Occupy Africa Unity Square that campaigned for the resignation of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Itai had become a thorn in the flesh of the country’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).
Days before his abduction, Itai had urged thousands of people at a rally organized by the late Movement for Democratic Change party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, to topple Mugabe.
Robbed of her husband, with her two children — a 13-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl, she (Sheffra), said ‘the children know what happened, so we just pray for him to come back to us one day.’
“Life without him is hard. It’s hard to live for six years without knowing where (Itai) he is or what happened to him, especially when l look at our two young kids; it’s hard.”
“My boy and girl can’t wait to see their dad. They talk about him most of the time, saying that when dad comes, we will run to meet and embrace him,” Sheffra told Ubuntu Times.
Itai’s brother, Paddy Dzamara, said ‘my message is directed to those who took Itai and also to Mr. ED Mnangagwa (the President) to provide us with closure of his whereabouts.’
“Itai’s abduction and disappearance has been hard for the family and we all miss him. His children Nokutenda and Nenyasha always ask about his whereabouts and when he will come back to them,” Paddy told Ubuntu Times.
Gladys Hlatshwayo, the opposition MDC Alliance secretary for external affairs, said ‘we remember the courageous Itai Dzamara who was abducted on this day six years ago.’
“He is still unaccounted for to this day. Sadly, his brother Patson Dzamara passed away before he could get answers,” said Hlatshwayo.
Patson who led calls for the return of his brother Itai, succumbed to colon cancer last year.