Patson Dzamara was a political activist and motivational speaker. He was also the younger brother of Itai Dzamara the activist who went missing in 2015 after he was allegedly abducted by unknown people.
Patson was born fourth into a family of five children in Mutoko. He attended primary school and part of his secondary school in Highfield.
Patson Dzamara holds an MBA in Administration from the Zimbabwe Open University and a Doctorate in Strategic Management from the Christ University in India.
In June 2016 Dzamara started a campaign to occupy Africa Unity Square in Harare in protest of the government’s failure to address the various issues affecting the ordinary Zimbabwean.
Dzamara was arrested by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police on the evening of June 8, 2016, over what are believed to trumped-up robbery charges.
On 29 June 2017 Patson Dzamara and fellow activist Makomborero Haruzivishe were found guilty of obstruction of justice for allegedly stealing a policeman’s hat and baton stick when they were carrying out Occupy Africa Unity Square in 2016. Harare magistrate Ms. Josephine Sunday sentenced the two activists to 12 months imprisonment. 3 months were however suspended on condition of good behavior, while the 9 remaining months were suspended on condition that the pair performs 315 hours of community service at Rotten Row Court and Borrowdale Police Station.
In October 2016, Patson Dzamara staged a one-man demo on the disappearance of his brother Itai Dzamara. Patson Dzamara wen to the entrance of the Parliament building, and vowed he would not be silenced until the whereabouts of his missing brother Itai were known.
Dzamara’s demonstration, however, coincided with the sitting of the National Assembly for the weekly question time, was brief, as he was quickly apprehended and taken away by parliamentary security staff.
This was not the first time Patson had staged a demonstration asking the whereabouts of his brother. It was reported that Dzamara stood before the then President Mugabe with a placard written, “Where is Itai Dzamara?” at Independence Celebrations in April 2016.
In August 2020, it was revealed that Dzamara was ill after being diagonised with colon cancer. He passed away later that month on 26 August.
It was speculated by some prominent people that Dzamara’s cancer had been induced by state security agents after one of his abductions. Said Freeman Chari:
“Patson Dzamara, is the 4th person that I know in the past 2 yrs who has been afflicted by some form of abdominal cancer. The common denominator, they are activists/politicians that have at one point been arrested… in some cases reporting being injected something.
The problem though is that pple with no understanding at all of some of the scientific possibilities make too much noise. There are studies on radiation-induced colorectal cancers and others that show the possibility of weaponizing nuclear decay products”.
