Danisa Masuku, Court Reporter
FOUR police officers who were manning a roadblock along the Bulawayo-Harare Road have been granted bail by the Bulawayo High Court.
Moses Chisandawe (47), Nomson Rwaendepi (44), Anesu Bruce Chikasha (36) and Conscience Chihata (34) appeared on Friday for bail pending appeal hearing before Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Naison Chivayo.
They are legally represented by Mr Kholwani Ngwenya of TJ Mabhikwa and Partners.
In his argument before Justice Chivayo, Mr Ngwenya said the quartet have no previous criminal record and they have served for more than 10 years in the police force. He also said they are not a flight risk and would not interfere with State witnesses.
In his ruling, Justice Chivayo granted them bail pending trial.
Justice Chivayo said: “Each applicant must pay US$150 or the ZiG equivalent. They must reside at ZRP Mbembesi Police Station until the matter is finalised and they must not interfere with State witnesses. Each applicant must report at Mbembesi Police Station every Friday.”
The accused persons were allegedly found with US$237 and P110, which they failed to account for.
They are facing charges of bribery as defined in Section 170 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and criminal abuse of duty as a public officer. They were remanded to 2 November 2026.
Prosecuting, Mr Samuel Pedzisayi said the incident occurred this month on 14 October at around 12:20pm. The court heard that the accused were manning a roadblock at the 397-kilometre peg along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway.
“While on traffic enforcement duties, they received money from motorists, which was not due to them. A team of officers from Support Unit Headquarters comprising Chief Inspector
Mutemaringa, Inspector Kufankomwe, Sergeant Chikono, Sergeant Madanhire and Constable Tapedzisa arrived at the roadblock in a Ford Raptor, registration number AEK 3966.
“Upon arrival, they observed one of the accused holding cash in his hand. When searched, he was found with US$15 and 110 Botswana Pula, which he failed to satisfactorily account for,” said Mr Pedzisayi.
The court heard that this prompted a further search of the surrounding area, leading to the recovery of US$222 from a satchel hidden in a nearby metal cabin.
Mr Pedzisayi told the court that the accused were asked to explain why they had kept the money but failed to do so, leading to their arrest. They were subsequently escorted to ZRP Mbembesi.
The court heard that further investigations revealed that the money had not been booked or receipted in their official books.
“The recovered money had not been recorded. The ZRP Mbembesi Traffic Site Declaration Book, Occurrence Book and Deployment Register were also recovered and will be produced in court as exhibits,” he said.
The State contends that the accused acted contrary to and inconsistent with their duties as public officers by receiving money from motorists at a roadblock, which was not receipted and accounted for. Total cash recovered amounted to US$237 and P110.
