A police officer has found himself in a heap of trouble after he allegedly insulted President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Shungudzemoyo Kache, of Harare, was charged with “undermining the authority of the President” after he allegedly likened the President to a ‘used condom’.

Kache faces up to a year in prison if he is convicted of the crime. The police officer appeared at the Harare Magistrate’s court on Saturday. According to opposition politician and Secretary for Public Service&Social Welfare for the MDC, Maureen Kademaunga, Constable Kache looked troubled and had no legal representation.

Kademaunga then alerted Jeremiah Bamu of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) who represented the policeman in the court proceedings. Said Kademaunga,

This morning when I visited MDC leaders, I saw Constable Kache who was in custody and waiting to go to court for allegedly insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He looked troubled and frightened. He had no lawyer so I alerted Jeremiah Bamu of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) who then represented him. Thank you Jeremiah Bamu.

Outlining the case against Constable Kache, the ZLHR said

Shungudzemoyo Kache, a police officer, allegedly told Stanley Mabhachi who was wearing a scarf with the Zimbabwean flag colours that President Mnangagwa is a “used condom”.

Kache’s lawyer Jeremiah Bamu of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights told the court that his client was taken to ZANU PF headquarters after he was arrested.

In an extensive commentary on The law of presidential insults in Zimbabwe, Constitutional law expert and law professor Alex Magaisa said,

The presidential insults provisions were frequently used during the final years of Mugabe’s rule when he was aged and the majority of the people were disaffected by his lengthy rule. Notably, the provisions have been used in the early years of Mnangagwa’s rule, demonstrating not only continuity but also paranoia of the regime.

The fact that the Constitutional Court has yet to make an authoritative pronouncement on the constitutional invalidity of the provisions means they are still part of the law and overzealous police and prosecution authorities continue to use them.