Bogus cop exposed

Yeukai Karengezeka

Court Correspondent

A Chitungwiza man who was being roughed up by a rowdy mob in central Harare while clad in police uniform recently, was rescued from being bashed by police on patrol, only to be exposed as a bogus policeman when they started asking him where he operated from.

After rescuing him, the police patrol team asked Trust Chikiwa (24) which police station he was from, and he started mumbling. That raised suspicion and they asked for his identity cards and he failed to produce any.

Yesterday, Chikiwa appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Dennis Mangosi charged with impersonating a police officer. Chikiwa is a boilermaker at Mashonaland Tobacco Company.

Prosecuting, Mr Zebediah Bofu alleged that on Sunday at around 11:40am, Sergeant Reyson Davison and other officers of Harare Central police district reaction team, were at Copa Cabana bus terminus conducting patrols.

The reaction team then observed that Chikiwa, who was wearing a police uniform riot gear number five, was being surrounded by a group of people. So the team approached the crowd to rescue Chikiwa.

Upon interviewing him as a colleague, they discovered that Chikiwa had no police identity card, national identity card or anything that was useful in identifying him as a police officer, besides the uniform he was wearing.

Chikiwa was then arrested for impersonating a police officer.

On further enquiry, it was noted that Chikiwa was once arrested for the same offence and convicted under CRB 11835 and CRB 11836.

The police uniform was recovered.