News / National
Court officials arrested for extortion
26 May 2025 at 08:01hrs | Views
The prosecutor at Mutasa Magistrate Court, Shephard Chavarika, along with two police officers stationed at Mutasa Police Station, Liberty Tivafukidze and Sencia Masase, have been arrested and charged with extortion and criminal abuse of duty.
The trio allegedly demanded bribes from two complainants to facilitate the release of an impounded truck and to influence the outcome of a criminal case pending before the court.
According to reports, in March 2025, one of the complainants leased her truck to transport agricultural produce from Honde Valley to Harare. On March 26, the truck was impounded by Tivafukidze and Masase at a roadblock in the Marara area on suspicion of carrying smuggled goods. The owners of the goods were also arrested and taken to Mutasa Magistrate Court, where Chavarika was prosecuting the case.
On April 3, Constable Tivafukidze allegedly contacted one of the complainants and summoned her to Hauna, where she met with both Tivafukidze and Chavarika. The two reportedly demanded a bribe of USD 500 to facilitate the release of the vehicle. The complainant paid USD 170 in cash and made an additional Ecocash payment of USD 100 the following day.
Despite assurances from Chavarika that the truck would be released by April 9, the vehicle was instead taken to the ZIMRA compound at Forbes Border post. The accused allegedly demanded an additional USD 300 to facilitate the acquittal of the suspects arrested when the truck was impounded. This prompted the complainants to report the matter to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
Following a sting operation, the three accused were arrested at Mutasa Magistrate Court, where USD 200 was recovered from Chavarika.
The accused appeared before Mutare Provincial Magistrate Enia Ndiraya and were remanded to June 5, each granted bail set at USD 100.
The trio allegedly demanded bribes from two complainants to facilitate the release of an impounded truck and to influence the outcome of a criminal case pending before the court.
According to reports, in March 2025, one of the complainants leased her truck to transport agricultural produce from Honde Valley to Harare. On March 26, the truck was impounded by Tivafukidze and Masase at a roadblock in the Marara area on suspicion of carrying smuggled goods. The owners of the goods were also arrested and taken to Mutasa Magistrate Court, where Chavarika was prosecuting the case.
Despite assurances from Chavarika that the truck would be released by April 9, the vehicle was instead taken to the ZIMRA compound at Forbes Border post. The accused allegedly demanded an additional USD 300 to facilitate the acquittal of the suspects arrested when the truck was impounded. This prompted the complainants to report the matter to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
Following a sting operation, the three accused were arrested at Mutasa Magistrate Court, where USD 200 was recovered from Chavarika.
The accused appeared before Mutare Provincial Magistrate Enia Ndiraya and were remanded to June 5, each granted bail set at USD 100.
Source - online
