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Yeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
Five police officers who allegedly demanded a US$15 000 bribe from a company director to drop some fake rape charges
against him have been acquitted by Harare magistrate Mr Donald Ndirowei.
Lawson Muchongwe, Perseverance Chisango, Weston Muzorewa, Prosper Chimbumu, and Fedrick Moyo were facing charges of
abuse of office.
Their lawyer, Mr Moffat Makuvatsine, represented them.
Mr Ndirowei ruled that the State’s case relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, which failed to provide a clear indication of
guilt.
“For a conviction based on circumstantial evidence to suffice, only one inescapable conclusion pointing towards the guilt of the
accused must be drawn from the given facts. In this case, more than one inference can be drawn,” he said.
Mr Ndirowei also said the complainant, Mr Garth Graig Duplooy, told the court that the accused persons did not solicit any
money from him. Rather, he only heard about it from his lawyer, Mr Brighton Pabwe.
He said at the time of their arrest, Muchongwe, Muzorerwa, and Chimbumu were seated in their car while Chisango and Moyo
were speaking to the complainant’s lawyer but without any indication of money being involved.
According to court records, Mr Duplooy, alleged that the officers demanded a bribe from him in exchange for dropping fake
rape charges against him.
Following Mr Duplooy’s police report on October 12, 2023, the five police officers were arrested.
However, investigations revealed that there were no rape charges against Mr Duplooy.
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