Radio DJ arrested for posing as CIO operative

Conrad Mupesa

Mashonaland West Bureau

A CHINHOYI woman who was also a presenter at the Platinum FM radio station in the town has been arrested on allegations of masquerading as a Central Intelligence Officer (CIO).

Thandeka Chitombo (30), known as Ndekah-T on air, was arrested on Friday and charged with impersonating a public officer.

It also emerged that she falsely claimed to be a ZANU PF Central Committee member after she was found with fake identity cards that presented her as a member of the ruling party’s high-ranking body.

Chitombo was brought before the Chinhoyi Magistrates Court yesterday and remanded in custody to tomorrow.

According to the State, the complainant in the case is Mr Davis Mugadza, the station manager at Zimpapers’ Mashonaland West radio station, Platinum FM.

It is the State’s case that the accused, who first approached the radio station manager to volunteer as a presenter in October 2023, later presented credentials purporting she was a member of the CIO.

She is alleged to have told Mr Mugadza that she had been deployed to the radio station on a “CIO intelligence task”.

Mr Mugadza then contacted the CIO’s offices in Chinhoyi to confirm her credentials and they requested time to investigate.

On Thursday, Mr Mugadza was contacted by the team, who disowned the accused. The complainant then made a police report, leading to the accused’s arrest on Friday at the radio station’s studios in Chinhoyi.

A search at her house in Ruvimbo high-density suburb led to the discovery of a fake diplomatic identification card and two counterfeit ZANU PF identification cards purporting that she was a Central Committee member for Mashonaland West and Central provinces.