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Prosper Dembedza Herald Correspondent

TWO police officers stationed at Mbare Police Station in Harare yesterday appeared in court facing allegations of collecting money from arrested motorists to facilitate the dropping of charges and the release of their impounded vehicles.

Victoria Shoriwa (36) and Naume Dube (31) were facing criminal abuse of office charges when they appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje.

They were remanded on US$100 bail each to April 4.

The State represented by Lancelot Mutsokoti alleged that the Police General Headquarters internal investigations team visited Mbare police station in response to a tip-off from the public.

The court heard that the police officers deployed at the main gate were collecting money from motorists that were being released from Mbare without being issued receipts to allow them passage.

Upon arrival, the team was stationed around the main gate, and over the next 20 minutes saw that some vehicles were checked by the accused with the drivers leaving money for the two.

The team introduced themselves and ordered the two to go to the nearby guard room for searches. The cornered officers refused to take the instructions and suddenly Dube became violent.

The officers from PGHQ apprehend the two and force-marched Dube to the guard room, while she was resisting.

It is alleged that Dube tried to destroy the written list of vehicle number plates in the ZRP Mbare main gate occurrence book which she was holding.

She was overpowered by the internal investigations team who retrieved the list.

During the process, a motorist who was driving out of the station in a Toyota Passo called Shoriwa and told her he had been advised to leave a US$1 note with the officers at the main gate.

Shoriwa allegedly refused to receive the money.

The two were later searched and Dube was found with US$120.