The former Police Chief Augustine Chihuri’s corruption case has exposed gross levels of rot at the PGHQ as police officers are testifying that documents were destroyed, doctored and or disappeared in what might pass on as a way to conceal corruption at the country’s law enforcement headquarters.
The matter came to light as the National Prosecuting Authority is building a case against Augustine Chihuri who it claims siphoned public funds into his companies and is seeking a court order to forfeit his assets.
A police officer, Constable Ellison Mutivayo in a sworn affidavit has said he was given an order to type an order to destroy 20 selected documents in 2017.
According to ZBC, these documents which were at the PGHQ were destroyed after police bosses ordered that they be destroyed:
- Some of the documents which were doctored and burnt include records for Mastaw Investments where Chihuri was a manager and his wife Isobel was managing director. Chihuri’s brother-in-law Aitken Khan was operations manager for the same company.
- Documents for Croxile Investments where Isobel was general manager were, according to the investigations, allegedly tampered with.
- Other records for Adamah Enterprises and Nodpack Investments where Isobel was general manager were also reportedly destroyed, Adamah had the tender to supply cap drab, blue hats for female officers and clothing material.
- Documents for Rewstand Enterprises owned by Mrs Abigail Billie Makono, wife of a top police officer Assistant Commissioner Makono and her sister Beaula Billie, were also allegedly tampered with. Rewstand had the tender to supply tents and clothing material.
According to the publication, an officer Constable John Shoko said he was ordered to pluck out some pages from the goods received register which were then destroyed by fire.
Another police officer, Sergeant Tamirirashe Matutu, who once worked at the buying office, fingered one officer Supritendent Munemo and said he visited their office and asked for files in respect of Rewstand, Adamah, Mastaw, Nodpack and Croxile which he took to his office:
He came back and took used up goods received registers from the safe where they were kept. He also took another goods received register from receipt bay section to his office. After an hour, he came back with pages which had entries of receipts in respect of the above mentioned companies, folded and marked while others were detached.
He gave us blank pages of the registers and instructed us to rewrite the entries excluding those for the above mentioned companies which were left blank. Those blank spaces were filled in with false information and later cancelled.
Supt Munemo then took the registers and asked Cst Shoko to accompany him to Police Printers for rebinding. All this happened when the overall officer-in-charge Chief Inspector Gavaza was on occasional leave.
Another police officer, Assistant Inspector Nelson Phiri in yet another affidavit, said he actually saw one of his colleagues rewriting the registers and he said he had been instructed by Superintendent Munemo to rewrite the registers:
… noted that pages which had entries and information of the aforementioned companies had been plucked out and replaced by newly re-written pages. The books had been bound anew to appear as if everything was still intact,
More: ZBC