BY SILAS NKALA A MUTARE magistrate has ordered the local authority and its security officer to pay $9 000 compensation to a council nurse injured during a 2018 council-led blitz on illegal pirate taxis. Magistrate Lazarus Murendo ruled that council and its security officer Phineas Munyika were responsible for injuries sustained by council nurse Kumbirai Furusa on July 6, 2018 when she was caught up in the melee while travelling home on an unregistered taxi cab. Furusa was assaulted while she was seated on the front passenger seat of the taxi, which she had hired on her way home. During trial, Furusa, who was represented by Peggy Tavagadza from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told the court that Munyika physically manhandled and dragged her out of the taxi, resulting in her falling and sustaining knee injuries. Furusa, who already had a fractured wrist and was due to have her plaster removed, only had the plaster removed six weeks later. She told the court that she could no longer do household chores due to the injuries she sustained after the fall. In his ruling, Murendo held Munyika accountable for Furusa’s injuries, saying that it was highly unlikely that the nurse would fall out of a vehicle in which she was seated properly on the passenger seat. Murendo ruled that $9 500 was compensation for damages, pain and suffering, while $227 was for special damages. Furusa had initially claimed $10 000.
