Munyaradzi Mashiri- Court Correspondent
Four Zimbabwe Republic Police officers — Kudakwashe Zhira, Praise Machado, Deborah Tumba, and Sithulisiwe Manyakaidze — have appeared in court facing charges of criminal abuse of duty as public officers, or alternatively, theft, after allegedly demanding a US$3,000 bribe from a foreign businessman.
The officers were granted US$100 bail each, and the case was remanded to November 5 pending further investigations.
The complainant, Akbar Rana Muhammad, a Pakistani national and managing director of Organic Flour Mill Company, alleged that the four officers extorted money from him after a late-night confrontation.
Zhira, a senior officer stationed at ZRP Rhodesville, serves as the Officer-in-Charge of Crime, while Machado and Tumba are stationed at ZRP Highlands. Manyakaidze is also based at ZRP Rhodesville.
The court heard that on the night of August 30, 2025, at around 10 p.m., Muhammad and his friend, Tatenda Munyanyi, were at a vehicle fitment center at the corner of 7th Street and Samora Machel Avenue in Harare, repairing a punctured tyre.
They were approached by Machado, Tumba, and Manyakaidze, who arrived with a male accomplice still at large. The officers allegedly used two unregistered vehicles — a black Nissan X-Trail driven by Tumba and a white Toyota Aqua driven by Manyakaidze — to block Muhammad’s vehicle, leading to an altercation.
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During the confrontation, one of the accused reportedly threw an empty bottle at Muhammad’s vehicle, damaging it. In self-defense, Muhammad produced an electric shocker, but one of the officers allegedly seized it.
The complainant was then arrested, handcuffed, and placed in the back seat of his vehicle. A male officer reportedly searched his pockets, taking his iPhone 16 Pro Max and US$200 in cash.
The officers allegedly demanded US$3,000 from Muhammad in exchange for not charging him with disorderly conduct. When he failed to produce the money on the spot, they escorted him to his home in Mount Pleasant.
Once there, Muhammad managed to escape to a neighbour’s house, where he sought refuge with a security guard identified as Dambamuromo. The guard alerted a private security reaction team, but the accused officers reportedly convinced the team that they were conducting a lawful arrest by presenting their police identification.
Muhammad was eventually taken to ZRP Rhodesville, where he was detained on charges of disorderly conduct. It is alleged that while in detention, Zhira threatened him with additional charges unless he paid a reduced bribe of US$2,000.
Muhammad contacted his friend, Munyanyi, who collected the money from Workington and delivered it to him. The US$2,000 was handed over to Zhira in his office, where he reportedly called in his co-accused to share the payment.
Muhammad was then made to pay a US$30 admission-of-guilt fine for disorderly conduct, which was receipted, before being released.
After his release, he demanded the return of his cellphone, but the accused officers allegedly failed to produce it.
Muhammad reported the incident to the Police Internal Investigations Unit on October 3, 2025, leading to the arrest of the four officers the following day.
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