In a shocking act of repression, the Zimbabwean government has jailed a mother and her one-year-old baby, marking a new low in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s war on dissent. This horrific incident, which occurred during the mass arrest of former MP and minister Jameson Timba and dozens of opposition activists, has triggered national outrage and international condemnation.

The image of a mother detained with a baby strapped to her back has rightfully angered citizens across the country. The hashtags #ZimGovtCrueltyDisplay and #OneYearOldChildJailed are spreading like wildfire online, capturing the deep pain and disgust felt by Zimbabweans. In what world is a peaceful gathering met with tear gas, arrests, torture — and the imprisonment of a toddler?

This incident happened during what authorities call a crackdown on “illegal gatherings” and alleged plans for protests. But this was not a violent mob. It was a commemorative gathering, a braai to mark the Soweto Uprising — a peaceful moment in Zimbabwe’s democratic space. Yet, the regime responded as it always does: with brutality, lies, and arrests.

Now, a mother and her baby languish behind bars in one of Zimbabwe’s notorious detention facilities. These are not places fit for any human being — let alone a one-year-old child. Our prisons are overcrowded, filthy, and dangerously unsanitary. They lack proper food, medical care, and basic hygiene. A toddler in such conditions faces unimaginable risk. This isn’t just cruelty — it’s state-sponsored child abuse.

This child, at the most tender and formative stage of life, is being exposed to trauma that may cause irreversible emotional and psychological damage. If the mother is breastfeeding, that vital bond is being disrupted. If not, the baby’s nutrition and immunity are under threat in an environment utterly unfit for an infant. These are not just human rights violations — they are crimes against children.

This arrest exposes how far Zimbabwe has descended under Mnangagwa’s rule. The regime now jails children in its paranoia to silence opposition voices. It has lost all sense of decency, compassion, and legality. Not even the most oppressive governments around the world jail babies for political gain — but Zimbabwe now does.

Where is the justice system? Where are the courts? Where are the voices of reason in the police and prosecution? The world must not stay silent. Human rights organizations, regional leaders, and international powers must take a stand. The continued silence of SADC and the African Union is shameful. How can they sit at summits and shake hands with a government that throws a baby in prison?

To every Zimbabwean — this is our wake-up call. Today, it’s a mother and a baby. Tomorrow, it could be any one of us. This regime fears the people, so it punishes them. It fears voices of truth, so it silences them. And now it fears even a peaceful meal in someone’s backyard. Is this the Zimbabwe we want?

Let us not forget that this is the same regime that parades itself on the international stage as a “new dispensation.” Yet behind closed doors, it jails babies, tortures youth, and crushes democracy with batons and boots. We cannot afford to be quiet anymore.

Every church, every civil society group, every opposition party, every lawyer, every parent must rise up and demand the immediate release of this mother and her child — and all other political prisoners. No child belongs in jail. No mother should watch her baby suffer behind bars because of a paranoid, power-hungry regime.

History will remember this moment. Either as the day we finally said “enough,” or as the day we let silence enable the abuse of the most vulnerable. The world is watching. Zimbabwe is watching. And if we are silent now, we are complicit.

Free the mother. Free the baby. Free Timba. Free them all. Let this cruelty end — now.