Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve
FROM fighting crime to committing it!
A Gweru-based police officer turned into a phone snatcher in Victoria Falls and now finds himself swapping handcuffs for a community broom!
Thulani Sibanda (24), stationed at the Gweru Police Protection Unit (PPU), was convicted on two counts of theft and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. But after a slap on the wrist by the court, 4 months were suspended for good behaviour and the remaining 8 months were converted to community service at Msiphani Clinic in Zvishavane.
Victoria Falls resident magistrate Gift Manyika handed down the sentence after Sibanda pleaded guilty to stealing two mobile phones in two separate incidents last week.
“He betrayed the trust of a friend and abused the public’s confidence in law enforcement,” said prosecutor Portia Moyo.
The first victim was his own friend and fellow officer, Brian Verinyama, from Victoria Falls Police Station. On the night of May 12, Sibanda visited Verinyama at his Chinotimba home, sat in the yard listening to music on his Itel A70. When Verinyama stepped into the house, Sibanda vanished with the phone.
“I called my number and he actually picked up and promised to return it the next day… but he switched off and disappeared,” Verinyama told the court.
The phone, worth US$270, was later found with Nyasha Samsun, who unknowingly bought the stolen device from Sibanda.
But the rogue cop wasn’t done.
Just two days later, on May 14, Sibanda struck again. This time at Moringa Shopping Centre, where he posed as a customer. While the shopkeeper was distracted, he swiped a Samsung Galaxy phone valued at US$200 and vanished without a trace.
Unfortunately for him, police nabbed him the next day on another theft charge and during a search, the second stolen phone was found in his possession.
With both phones recovered, Sibanda now faces the shame of swapping his badge for a broom as he performs community service instead of wearing prison stripes, for now.
“No one is above the law. Whether uniformed or civilian, theft is theft,” added Magistrate Moyo.
