Sikhala’s Wife Claims She Was Arrested For Refusing To Pay A Bribe
The wife of jailed MDC Alliance MP Job Sikhala, Ellen, has pleaded not guilty to the charges of violating road rules.
Ellen was arrested on 20 September at traffic lights along Seke Road on her way to visit her husband at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
She appeared in court on Wednesday before Harare magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure.
Ellen alleged that she was arrested by the police after she refused to pay a bribe.
Kelvin Magadza, a traffic officer who was controlling traffic along Seke Road on the day said Ellen was arrested, said she was driving her vehicle against the flow of traffic.
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Magadza added that he spotted Ellen committing the offence at a distance of about 30 metres from where he was. He said:
She was driving her car coming from Chitungwiza she arrived at ABC auctions and saw that the lane was congested so she decided to encroach the oncoming lane in order to escape traffic.
As she was driving in this oncoming lane she proceeded to try and go back to the right lane at the “robots” that’s when I arrested her.
In her defence, Ellen, through her lawyer, Paidamoyo Saurombe, said she was arrested to fix her. Said Saurombe:
Accused will state that on the day, she did not go against traffic; there were two stationary vehicles she turned into the next lane to avoid the vehicles.
The police demanded a bribe and she refused to pay resulting in them fabricating the current charges.
Magadza, however, told the court that Ellen was the one who offered to pay a bribe as she was in a hurry to see her husband.
Ellen will be back in court on 27 October for the continuation of the trial. | NewZimbabwe.com
