The 13 year-old minor child was left nursing extensive injuries to his
right upper limbs including permanent and irreversible injuries, which
he suffered due to electrocution in April 2019 while medical doctors
estimated his impairment percentage at 20 percent.
The minor child’s parents were assisted by Kevin Kabaya and Tatenda
Sigauke of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who on 16 September
2022, wrote a letter of demand to Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission
and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings,
demanding payment amounting to more than US$19 000 as compensation for
damages suffered by the 13 year-old child.
The minor child was electrocuted by some exposed electricity cables,
which were left hanging dangerously low and within reach of people at
his parents’ residence in Penhalonga in Manicaland province.
As a result of the accident, the child suffered severe electrical burns.
In their letter to ZETDC, Kabaya and Sigauke told the power company
that it was liable for the unfortunate accident, which was caused by
negligence on the part of its employees, who negligently left exposed
electrical cables in a residential area, thereby endangering
vulnerable children.
Recently, ZETDC through its insurers Cell Insurance, advised and
shared proof of a payment transaction report to Kabaya and Sigauke
showing that it had deposited ZWL92 679 793, which is equivalent to
US$19 658 into the bank account of the minor child’s parents after it
accepted the minor child’s claim and liability for the damages which
he suffered from the electrocution.
ZLHR intervened in assisting the minor child as part of its
anti-impunity strategies to foster accountability at the country’s
supplier of electricity and to deter and discourage acts of human
rights violations by state-run institutions.
ZLHR has previously intervened in similar cases of ZESA Holdings’
negligence, which shows the dangerous levels of carelessness
prevailing at the state-run power utility and which in some instances
have resulted in deaths and injuries to several people across the
country.