KWEKWE lawyer, Brian Dube has rapped police for sleeping on the job after they hauled his client, Constable Peter Chikuni, before a disciplinary hearing over allegations of theft without any evidence.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
Chikuni was arrested on the night of February 1 in Mkoba, Gweru, over allegations that he had held Ropafadzo Taucha at knifepoint and demanded cash from her at Choose and Pay Kiosk in the Midlands capital.
He was subsequently charged by the police for “acting in a manner reasonably likely to bring discredit to the police force” and hauled before a Superintendent Chinyanganya.
Soon after Chikuni emerged from the hearing, held at Kwekwe Central Police Station, Dube said he expected better from the police.
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In his defence, Chikuni said he was walking in a maize field about 100 metres away from the kiosk when the crime happened.
He said upon hearing people shouting that there was a thief, he ran from the field towards the scene and that was when he was caught and arrested.
“It was a clear case of mistaken identity because the person who robbed the tuckshop had a mask on and nobody saw his face, but members of the public moved to arrest Chikuni when he emerged from the maize fields,” Dube said.
He said without any investigations or establishing any evidence, the police hauled his client before a police court with a view of dismissing him from work.
“You just expect more from the police and a bit of professionalism,” he said.
Taucha, who was the police star witness, testified that she had not seen her attacker and could not positively identify Chikuni as the knife-wielding robber.
“At the end of the police case, we applied for discharge and it was granted because they acknowledged there was no evidence. Now imagine what would have happened if Chikuni had no legal representation,” Dube said.