Two Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) cops stationed at Chinhoyi Traffic have been found guilty of soliciting a weekly US$60 bribe from a transport operator in exchange for free passage.
The two are Desire Mangombe (30) and Macdonald Tapesa (32).
They however escaped a custodial sentence after they were ordered to perform 490 hours each of community service.
"From January 2022, the officers allegedly extorted bribes from Tafadzwa Bvunzawabaya, a manager at Wolfspack Transport Services. On September 15, 2022, a team from Police General Headquarters Harare set up a trap operation using marked US dollar notes.
"The officers accepted the bribe at their station, leading to their immediate arrest and recovery of the trap money," the State proved.
Both officers were convicted of contravening Section 174(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
In a different matter two Mbare police officers Naume Dube (31) and Victoria Shonhiwa (36), both constables, were convicted of criminal abuse of duty after soliciting US$1 from every motorist passing through the police station's main gate on March 11, 2024.
Following a tip-off, officers from the Internal Investigations Department conducted surveillance and observed the two officers accepting bribes.
"Dube was found with US$80 in her shirt pockets, and Shonhiwa had US$40.
"They also recovered a list of motor vehicle registration numbers.
The officers were arrested and handed over to the Police Anti-Corruption Unit.
