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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
GOVERNMENT has dismissed as false and disturbing allegations by an online publication that some police officers in Victoria Falls had become homeless and pitched tents at the local police station.
The story published by online publication Bulawayo24.com alleged that scores of homeless police officers had invaded the Victoria Falls Police Station because they cannot afford rentals.
In the story published on Sunday, it was alleged that the police station had appealed to Government for help.
Bulawayo24.com alleged that landlords had started pegging charges for accommodation in US$ with the cheapest room going for US$50.
The publication quoted unnamed police officers who claimed they had been evicted from their lodgings for failing to pay rent in foreign currency.
While it is true that accommodation is now pegged in US$, officials at the police station dismissed the claims about the tents as mere “falsehoods being spread by the Second Republic’s detractors and bent on causing alarm.”
Commenting on the issue on Twitter, Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana said the alleged tents are for police operations and not for accommodation.
“Government has been made aware of false news circulating regarding the tent pitched in Victoria Falls by the police.
“The tent has been pitched purely for operational reasons which have nothing to do with the reasons given by the online publication. Fake news affects our country,” said Mr Mangwana.
Matabeleland North provincial police spokesperson Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese also dismissed the allegations as false.
“There is nothing like that. The only tents we have in the camp are Support Unit tents and the other one is for the Police Reaction Unit operations,” she said.
— @ncubeleon
Online Reporter