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Peter Matambanadzo Senior Reporter
Some police officers are still operating commuter omnibuses despite a directive by Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri banning cops from owning kombis.

The ban was imposed in May this year.

This defiance emerged after a commuter omnibus owned by one Constable Precious Wafawanaka, a traffic cop based at Harare Central Police Station, was involved in an accident along Samora Machel Avenue on August 15 and injured seven passengers.

The commuter omnibus, which did not have any valid papers such as insurance, was travelling from Mabvuku via the city centre to Mbare when it burst a tyre and overturned, injuring seven passengers including a pregnant woman.

National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said those with complaints against the police should not got the press, but lodge their complaints at the Complaints Desk at the Police General Headquarters.

“If the case is reported will then investigate the case,” Chief Supt Nyathi said.

According to one of the victims Mrs Christine Zembeleya from Mabvuku who is trying to get compensation from the owner of the commuter omnibus, she said before the accident occurred the crew had been warned by a service station attendant that their tyre was worn out.

A medical report from Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals showed that Mrs Zemeleya fractured her forearm and sustained bruises on her head.

“The owner is a police officer and when I went to Harare Central to make a follow up on the case I found out that the driver Gift Zvirahwa was charged with negligent driving and just ordered to pay a fine and we did not get any compensation yet it was clear that the kombi was unroadworthy,” she said.

Mrs Zemeleya felt that the police had preferred charges against the wrong person.

“How can they say negligent when it was a tyre burst? The officer (names supplied) preferred this lesser charge to exonerate the owner who is their fellow colleague from being charged,” she said.

Invesigations by The Herald showed that the kombi was using a fake insurance cover note from Sanctuary, which has since been disowned by the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe.

“The officer must be arrested for being in position of fake papers. This is criminal. The driver is being charged when in actual fact the vehicle owner is the one who is liable,” Mrs Zemeleya added.

She said police should have impound the vehicle for inspection by the Vehicle Insepction Department.

She also said she spent $500 for treatment of injuries she sustained.

According to a police report CR 5022/14 the accident is reportedly under investigations and would be handed over to the Prosecutor General for decision.

However, it is two months after the accident and the driver is yet to be prosecuted prompting Mrs Zembeleya to make a report at the Police General Headquarters Complaints Desk (Internal investigations) reference number 03/10/14.

Early this year Commissioner General ordered an inquiry into allegations after allegations that that some police officer owned kombis and this was fuelling corruption as some cops were reportedly targeting commuter omnibuses owned by civilians as a way of eliminating competition.

A survey by The Herald showed that the addresses on some kombis had been changed from police bases to private residential areas but the names of operators remained the same showing that no change of ownership had been effected.