Junior police officers here told The Zimbabwean that Chief Superintendent Phineas Muhedziwa, former Officer Commanding Kwekwe district who was in 2009 suspended by Commissioner Augustine Chihuri pending trial for his alleged rape of a junior officer, has been allowed to resign.
They suspect Chihuri might be trying to create a situation whereby the accused will end up avoiding trial. The charge is still standing, but he has since been allowed to leave the ZRP and he might not even appear in court, with the Investigating Officer possibly coming up with an excuse that the accused cannot be located, said one junior cop.
We understand that he is now working as a security guard for a local mining company, but I doubt that the complainant also knows that. This is not the first time that war veterans and those close to Chihuri have been set free in this manner after committing serious crimes. It looks like Muhedziwa will be the latest.
Muhedziwa is facing two counts of raping the junior, who was later transferred from Redcliff to Bulawayo, where she will attend court in her native Xhosa language. The sources said Muhedziwa offered her a R200 bribe in a desperate bid to have her withdraw the case.
He was fast-tracked from the position of assistant inspector in Masvingo to his current rank without sitting for a single promotional examination, and is said to have attained the rank of chief superintendent early this year, after acting as a Zanu (PF) election agent during the 2008 sham presidential run-off.
Post published in: News