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Patience Mutsiwi, Midlands Reporter
TWO Kwekwe municipal police officers have been jailed for an effective one year for demanding and accepting a $10 bribe from a motorist whom they had apprehended for picking up passengers at an undesignated point.
Tapiwa Chivasa and Taurai Zarura, whose ages were not given in court, appeared before Kwekwe Magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna facing criminal abuse of office charges.
The duo, both resident in Mbizo, Kwekwe were sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Each had six months suspended from the sentence for five years on condition of good behaviour.
Chivasa and Zarura pleaded not guilty but Mr Nduna convicted them due to overwhelming evidence against them.
Prosecuting, Mrs Mitchell Daraja said sometime last month, the two who were on duty threatened to impound Joseph Chada’s vehicle when he was allegedly picking up passengers at an undesignated place.
Chada was pirating between Kwekwe and Gweru.
Chivasa and Zarura demanded a bribe and a trap was set and they fell for it.
Chada offered them $10 whose serial numbers had been recorded beforehand.
“The two were immediately apprehended by the members of the anti-corruption team in Kwekwe. The money had serial numbers to authenticate,” said the prosecutor.
@patiemtsiwi.
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