daniel chigunwe
Zvikomborero Parafini
TWO people have been arrested for attempting to bribe a police officer to testify in favour of their friend in a robbery case.
The two appeared in court on Saturday and are set to return today for bail considerations.
Munyaradzi Zakariya and Theresa Chenjerai were not asked to plead on their initial appearance.
The court heard that in January and February, the two allegedly connived to offer US$150 to Detective Sergeant Kwashira of CID Norton.
They wanted him to lie under oath when testifying in court to favour their friend Nickson Tapuwa Marazanye.
He is facing 15 counts of robbery at Norton Magistrates Court.
The case was being investigated under CID Norton and ZRP Norton Rural.
On February 27, Chenjerai allegedly gave US$150 to Zakariya and instructed him to travel to Norton to hand over the money to Detective Sergeant Kwashira who was set to testify in court on that day.
The police officer reported the case to his Officer in Charge, Detective Inspector Ndofirepi, who then set up a team which was placed on surveillance.
Zakariya arrived at ZRP Norton Camp and was arrested as he was handing over the money. Upon being interviewed, Zakariya implicated Chenjerai as the one who sent him with the US$150.
He said this was meant to ensure that Nickson Tapuwa Marazanye would be released.
A follow-up was made by detectives which led to Chenjerai’s arrest at her home in Harare.
The State claimed that they have overwhelming evidence against the two, which includes the recovered money, calls history and a video of Zakariya handing over the bribe money.
Online Reporter