Cop rams house, fails to pay for repairs

A NKULUMANE family is living in the open as a police officer, who lost control of his car and rammed into their house two months ago, has failed to repair the property.

The cop, a constable stationed at Nkulumane Police Station, allegedly did not have of a valid driver's licence at the time of the crash.

Two siblings aged 6 and 11 years were rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital with serious injuries when the policeman, suspected to have been drunk, rammed his vehicle into a room they were sleeping in.

Constable Munyaradzi Mupfawa - force number 085147 - was with an unnamed colleague when the accident occurred just after midnight sometime in July.

He is suspected to have lost control of the car after an empty beer bottle rolled under the brake pedal while he attempted to negotiate a corner.

Mrs Prudence Tshili, the guardian of the two children who were injured, said the owners of the house where "very young orphans" and could not fix the damage.

"The parents of these children died and left them very young. This house has been their source of living as they rent rooms out to tenants to buy food and pay school fees. Now this officer completely destroyed one of the rooms and property, he has taken away their bread and butter," said Mrs Tshili.

She said she felt let down by the law as Mupfawa had not repaired the home, replaced damaged furniture or paid the kids' hospital bills.

"I have struggled with hospital bills for the children and all he did was send someone to drop three bags of cement and not a single brick. He did not pay for the ambulance and he is very arrogant," she said.

Mrs Tshili said Mupfawa had since engaged a lawyer.

"Now he told us not to talk to him but to talk to his lawyer. He just told us that he would do whatever it takes to protect his job. We cannot afford a lawyer so we have nobody to stand for our rights. They are taking advantage of our poverty," said Mrs Tshili.

She said the family was considering seeking the services of an inyanga to bring the matter to a close.

"As a family we decided that we have to do things the African way. Since these police officers think that the law is in their hands, now we will do something that will make them regret for life. They will come back to us asking for our forgiveness but we will also profess ignorance. We are tired," she said.

The Chronicle went to Mupfawa's home yesterday but only found his wife, who said he had gone out.

Neighbours said the police officers, who are also from Nkulumane, were driving a red Honda Fit and were drunk when the accident occurred.

A neighbour said on the day of the accident Mupfawa was so drunk he could not run.

"The two were extremely drunk. They behaved strangely and shouted obscenities. They even fought in front of us. One of them only came back in the morning to apologise," said Mrs Ntuli, a neighbour.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango could not be reached for comment.

Recently, the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Obedingwa Mnguni urged members of the public to record videos of police officers violating the law.

He said evidence gathered will come handy in prosecuting rogue law enforcement agents.