Staff ReporterHarare – Zimbabwe’s outgoing police chief Augustine Chihuri has reportedly been sued for $3m after a Harare business man accused him of torture and harassment.
According to New Zimbabwe.com, the lawyers of Bigboy Pachirera also accused Chuhuri of robbing their client several vehicles and a house.
Lawyer Rungano Mahuni said that the properties had since been registered under Chihuri’s name, together with a company called Kidsdale Enterprises owned by the police chief.
The vehicles that the police chief reportedly seized included a Jeep Cherokee, Mercedes Benz ML 350, several trucks and a house in old Highfield valued at $50 000.
Opposition parties last year called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to drop Chihuri as the country’s police chief, accusing him of presiding over a corrupt force that protected criminals and arrested victims.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson Obert Gutu urged the new president to crack the whip and charge the police chief with corruption.
“Chihuri must be fired and arrested for corruption, failing to cause the arrest of suspected criminals, even when his juniors had prepared dockets. Instead, he would cause the arrest of complainants and abuse State resources, protecting the real criminals,” Gutu was quoted as saying at the time.
Mnangagwa was said to be planning to realign the security forces, especially the police, to ensure adherence to the rule of law.
Unnamed sources close to the president said that Mnangagwa was probably going to fire the police boss.
