“I was beaten the whole night by the police but that will not deter me from pursuing the fight for a better Zimbabwe “I am now very much committed and strong in standing up for the rights of my fellow citizens’.

Such were the courageous words uttered by Charles Nyoni following his discharge from a Harare hospital.

Nyoni had been arrested in Parliament after he had presented a petition in parliament calling for the government to resign as it had failed to address the economic meltdown.

Nyoni, an active human rights activist has been instrumental I mobilizing residents of Harare to demonstrate at council offices in protest over poor service delivery. “We had just submitted the petition and then proceeded to the public gallery were we began singing and shouting, calling for the resignation of the government.

That’s when the security personnel came and manhandled us and took us to a private room where we were heavily beaten .We were then sent to the police station and again we were thoroughly beaten the whole night,” he said.

After missing for 26 hours Nyoni and his trio were then released.

Nyoni added that he remained committed to defending citizens’ rights and he won’t stop.

“I will not be deterred and they have actually strengthened my spirit. This is just the beginning of the struggle, “he concluded.