A Harare street vendor who spent nearly two months in prison after a dispute over dirty public toilets has been released on bail.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said they had secured the freedom of Anashe Mundandi (29) who was arrested at Mbare bus terminus on 1 December 2025 following a verbal altercation with a city council worker.
"We have secured freedom for a vendor who had been languishing in prison for more than two months after he was arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers and charged with criminal nuisance following a verbal altercation over the filthy state of toilets in Mbare and for allegedly insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa," ZLHR said.
Prosecutors told the court that Mundandi had shouted at Ody Chikombo, an employee of the City of Harare who was cleaning the public toilet accusing him of failing to perform his duties properly and saying others could do the job better.
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They further alleged that during the argument, Mundandi insulted President Mnangagwa by telling Chikombo that the Zanu-PF leader was "an insignificant person".
Mundandi was charged with criminal nuisance under section 46 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
He appeared before Magistrate Dennis Mangosi at the Harare Magistrates' Court where he was denied bail on 10 December after his lawyer Tapiwa Muchineripi of ZLHR, applied for his release.
The vendor then spent 57 days in police and prison custody before being freed on 27 January 2026 after the High Court overturned the lower court's decision.
High Court Judge Justice Gibson Mandaza granted Mundandi bail of US$100 setting aside the earlier ruling.
He ordered him to report once a week at a local police station, to continue residing at his given address and not to interfere with witnesses or investigations until the case is finalised.
Mundandi's trial on the criminal nuisance charge began on 23 January, with two state witnesses giving evidence.
He is expected back in court on 26 February 2026, when a magistrate will rule on his application for discharge at the close of the prosecution's case.
ZLHR said the case comes at a time when Zimbabwe's prisons are under severe strain.
"The arrest and detention of Mundandi comes at a time when Prosecutor-General Loice Matanda-Moyo has reportedly bemoaned overcrowding in Zimbabwe's prisons and proposed that prosecutors should exercise restraint in their attitude towards opposing bail applications in some cases," the organisation said.
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