Benchard and Leavit KATUMBA, both sentenced to death by special court martial in 1979 on conviction of assisting guerillas and possessing arms of war, are alive and well and living under the care of the ZANU (PF) party near Salisbury. A representative of IDAF was able to meet the two young men, aged 20 and 17 respectively, in June 1980.
The case of the Katumba brothers attracted significant attention overseas and was the subject of demonstrations in Britain against the Smith-Muzorewa regime organised by the Anti-Apartheid Movement and other support groups. Legal defence provided by IDAF, supported by representations to the British government, undoubtedly helped to save them from execution.
The Katumba brothers were arrested at their home in the Sipolilo area of north eastern Zimbabwe on 1 June 1979. They were subjected to extensive torture and assault involving beatings and electric shock, and induced to sign "confessions" which featured prominently in their trials. Their death sentences were subsequently commuted after detailed petitions had been presented to the Rhodesian regime's President. They were released from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in March 1980, under Lord Soames' amnesty.