'Chihuri has poisoned the police force,' says MDC-T

THE MDC-T has called for the immediate resignation of Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri from his post, alleging that the country's top cop is increasingly becoming a security risk by openly dabbling in partisan politics.

The call comes in the wake of statements by Chihuri indirectly referring to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as a "malcontent" for calling for security sector reforms.

MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said Chihuri must resign as he was openly dabbling in partisan politics.

"As MDC, Chihuri's utterances come as a huge disappointment and they justify our repeated calls for security sector reforms as prescribed in the Global Political Agreement (GPA)," he said.

Mwonzora said Chihuri and the police force had no business in prescribing who Zimbabweans should vote for.

The MDC-T spokesman said the Premier could take the issue up with President Robert Mugabe when the leaders meet next week.

He said Chihuri had poisoned the police force with his unprofessional conduct.

On Wednesday, Chihuri refuted reports that the Premier had initiated talks with security chiefs, saying they "were too busy to engage confused malcontents" who do not know their identity and had "a propensity to destroy what others, dead and alive, fought for".

Chihuri described calls by the MDC formations for security sector reforms as a non-issue that sought to create confusion.