Police laxity condemned

His evidence, said Vice President Mujuru yesterday while she questioned him, showed that the police on duty at the time did not provide tight security at the farm for her husband.

Speaking during the second day of the inquest into the death of Gen Mujuru at the Harare Magistrates Courts yesterday, the Vice President said the policemen on duty did not execute their duties diligently.
“Your Worship, you know that I was trained in security matters and I know that when you are posted to guard you are told of the significance of the place you are guarding,” said VP Mujuru.
“If you follow what newspapers are saying, these men had been at the farmhouse for six weeks, yet they did not know anything about the place they were guarding.”
VP Mujuru also wanted to know when the three policemen who were guarding the farmhouse were due to change shifts.

Gen Mujuru’s elder brother Joel also said, when he questioned the same policeman, that the evidence given showed that security was a matter of concern at the farmhouse.
He said there was no coordination between those guarding the two gates at the farm.
One of the gates was guarded by the policemen while there were private security guards at the other.
“There was no communication between the two points. I wonder how you were performing your duties when you knew matters of security were not all right.”

Const Mark admitted that security at the farm was not adequate.
He said the three policemen on duty were due to be relieved on the day of the inferno, but the car that was supposed to pick them up did not come.
Const Mark said when Gen Mujuru arrived at the gate around  8pm he spoke to all three policemen who were together at the gate. Besides Const Mark there was Const Chinyoka and Const Lazarus Handikatari.
Const Mark thought Gen Mujuru appeared drunk because he had “bloodshot eyes and blurred speech”. But earlier Const Chinyoka had said the General was not drunk.

The General “switched on the inner light of his car and I greeted him and he responded,” said Const Mark. “He asked if there were any problems during his absence and I said we had not encountered any.
“He was alone in the car and there was a jacket hanging in the backseat. I spoke to him for about 10 seconds and then we opened the gate and he made his way.”
Const Mark said Gen Mujuru returned to the gate a few minutes later, saying he was going to collect keys to the house from his maid.
Const Mark said he went to sleep at around 9pm at the same time as Const Handikatari, leaving Const Chinyoka on guard at the gate.
He said he was awakened around 2 am by Const Chinyoka who was shouting that there was fire at the main house.

Const Mark said he phoned his superiors at Beatrice Police Station while on his way to wake up the maid so she could show them which room was the main bedroom.
They broke into one of the rooms through the window, but could do nothing because of the raging fire and the smoke.
Mujuru family lawyer, Mr Takor Kewada asked why the police officers chose to enter through the bedroom window, which was far away from the source of the fire.
Const Mark said the fire was too intense in other parts of the house.

Other family members who quizzed Const Mark were Gen Mujuru’s daughter Rumbi, his nephew Tendai Mundawarara and Tirivanhu Mudariki.
However, before Const Mark gave evidence, Const Chinyoka had told the court earlier that there was nothing unusual about Gen Mujuru’s behaviour when he arrived at the farmhouse, contradicting Const Mark’s evidence.

“My observation was that he was not drunk because I did not know his demeanour when drunk,” he said.
Const Chinyoka said they could not summon the fire brigade to put out the fire because they did not have enough airtime.
He said the fire fighters arrived at 5 am after they were called by officers from Beatrice Police Station, but they did not carry water in their engines.

Const Chinyoka said he was surprised by the firefighters’ and wondered how they wanted to put out the fire.
The two police witnesses were led in their evidence by Mrs Sharon Fero from the Attorney General’s Office.
During the afternoon session Mr Clemence Chimbare of the Attorney General’s Office told the presiding magistrate Mr Walter Chikwanha that the Mujuru family had raised some concerns and sought a postponement of the matter to today.

Mr Chikwanha agreed.
She said the inquest was deferred to today after her family requested for a postponement to study some documents given by the State.
After the early adjournment of yesterday’s session, some foreign and local private media pressed VP Mujuru to condemn the entire security service sector for failing to discharge their duties properly.
“Do you think I can judge my security forces just because of one person? Do you think it will be honest or fair?… It can’t be fair. One person making a mistake will not condemn the whole population.

“So this person in particular was wrong in sleeping on duty… but taking the circumstances in which these things happen is really shocking and you say to yourself is this how a person can discharge his duty,” she said.
VP Mujuru said it was unfortunate that some policemen could not understand simple things such as the sketch of the house and some of the things that she understood as a trained person.

“I was  surprised they didn’t understand them and these are obvious and straightforward things which I think an ordinary policeman should understand at the first place,” she said.
Earlier in the morning, VP Mujuru said policemen should have known her late husband’s movements since he come at the farm house on that day.
She, however, said they were giving conflicting evidence.
“We listened to what was said yesterday by Chinyoka and today we are listening to Mark’s evidence,” said VP Mujuru. “Mark said he went into the house through the kitchen door, but said the fire was coming from the middle of the house.

“Does the fact that they wanted to use the door indicate that it was the door for which the General collected the keys from the housemaid?”
VP Mujuru complained to the court that she was never furnished with the court papers to study statements made by the police officers.
“I am the wife of the General,” she said. “I was never given an opportunity to see statements made by these men so that if possible I would have assisted them.

“I am seeing the papers being held by the lawyers and the prosecutors in this court through peeping.”
VP Mujuru said she did not understand why she was not given the papers on time.
“I don’t want to think bad about anybody but I only want to think that somebody might have faltered on his part and these are some of the housekeeping issues that we are now trying to sort out,” she said.

Const Mark said Gen Mujuru returned to the gate a few minutes later, saying he was going to collect keys to the house from his maid.
Const Mark said he went to sleep at around 9pm at the same time as Const Handikatari, leaving Const Chinyoka on guard at the gate.
He said he was awakened around 2am by Const Chinyoka who was shouting that there was fire at the main house.

Const Mark said he phoned his superiors at Beatrice Police Station while on his way to wake up the maid so she could show them which room was the main bedroom.
They broke into one of the rooms through the window, but could not do anything because of the raging fire and the smoke.
The Mujuru family lawyer, Mr Takor Kewada, asked why the police officers chose to enter through the bedroom window, which was far away from the source of the fire.
Const Mark said the fire was too intense in other parts of the house.

Other family members who quizzed Const Mark were Gen Mujuru’s daughter Rumbi, his nephew Tendai Mundawarara and Tirivanhu Mudariki.
However, before Const Mark gave evidence, Const Chinyoka had told the court earlier that there was nothing unusual about Gen Mujuru’s behaviour when he arrived at the farmhouse, contradicting Const Mark’s evidence.

“My observation was that he was not drunk because I did not know his demeanour when drunk,” he said.
Const Chinyoka said they could not summon the fire brigade to put out the fire because they did not have enough airtime.
He said the fire fighters arrived at 5am after they were called by officers from Beatrice Police Station, but they did not carry water in their engines.

Const Chinyoka said he was surprised by the firefighters’ and wondered how they wanted to put out the fire.
The two police witnesses were led in their evidence by Mrs Sharon Fero from the Attorney General’s Office.

During the afternoon session Mr Clemence Chimbare of the Attorney General’s Office told the presiding magistrate Mr Walter Chikwanha that the Mujuru family had raised some concerns and sought a postponement of the matter to today.
Mr Chikwanha agreed.

She said the inquest was deferred to today after her family requested for a postponement to study some documents given by the State.
After the early adjournment of yesterday’s session, some foreign and local private media pressed VP Mujuru to condemn the entire security service sector for failing to discharge their duties properly.
“Do you think I can judge my security forces just because of one person? Do you think it will be honest or fair? . . . . It can’t be fair. One person making a mistake will not condemn the whole population.

“So this person in particular was wrong in sleeping on duty . . . but taking the circumstances in which these things happen is really shocking and you say to yourself is this how a person can discharge his duty,” she said.

VP Mujuru said it was unfortunate that some policemen could not understand simple things such as the sketch of the house and some of the things that she understood as a trained person.
“I was surprised they didn’t understand them and these are obvious and straightforward things which I think an ordinary policeman should understand at the first place,” she said.
Earlier in the morning, VP Mujuru said policemen should have known her late husband’s movements since arriving at the farm house on that day.

She, however, said they were giving conflicting evidence.
“We listened to what was said yesterday by Chinyoka and today we are listening to Mark’s evidence,” said VP Mujuru. “Mark said he went into the house through the kitchen door, but said the fire was coming from the middle of the house.

“Does the fact that they wanted to use the door indicate that it was the door for which the General collected the keys from the housemaid?”
VP Mujuru complained to the court that she was never furnished with the court papers to study statements made by the police officers.

“I am the wife of the General,” she said. “I was never given an opportunity to see statements made by these men so that if possible I would have assisted them.
“I am seeing the papers being held by the lawyers and the prosecutors in this court through peeping.”

VP Mujuru said she did not understand why she was not given the papers on time.
“I don’t want to think bad about anybody but I only want to think that somebody might have faltered on his part and these are some of the housekeeping issues that we are now trying to sort out,” she said.