by Innocent Mujeri
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has warned politicians, especially those from the opposition quarters, to desist from the habit of making premature and inflammatory statements that might cause chaos in the country.
This follows the unfounded allegations by the MDC Alliance that Lavender Chiwaya, who is that party’s Hurungwe Central District Chairperson and Ward four Councillor, was kidnapped and murdered by suspected State security agents.
“The Police cautions the public against interfering with crime scenes as what happened in Karoi is a cause for concern. We appeal to politicians to avoid premature statements and allow the investigations to proceed smoothly. Politicians should be careful in their comments as there are allegations of girlfriends and alcohol abuse issues which are now subject to police investigations in this case,” said Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi.
The ZRP Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Nyathi said the police were not aware of the abduction or kidnapping of Chiwaya, a narrative being peddled by members of the opposition and some Civic Organisations.
“The Police are not aware of the alleged abduction and kidnapping (of Chiwaya) as alluded to by some individuals and groups on social media. Full scale investigations are in progress to find out exactly what happened,” said Ass Com Nyathi.
According to the police, Chiwaya in the company of some friends, was beer binging before his lifeless body was later found dumped near his homestead.
“The facts are that Lavender Chiwaya and Munyaradzi Pasipamire approached Tinashe Kanhema (42), who was roasting and selling maize cobs at 7.30pm on the 20th of August 2020.The duo was given a roasted maize cob to share and went to buy two 200 ml of Challenger Whisky (popularly known as kranco), which they again shared. At about 2030 hours, Lavender Chiwaya left his two colleagues after telling them that he was going home. The body of Lavender Chiwaya was later found at number 1179 Chikangwe, Karoi. His known residential address is house number 1171 Chikangwe, Karoi, which is four houses away from the scene,” said the Police in a statement
The police also said there were no struggle marks on Chiwaya’s body, besides the valuables which were retrieved from the body.
The opposition was all over the internet insinuating that Chiwaya was kidnapped and killed by suspected State security agents. However, preliminary investigations are pointing to alcohol abuse as the likely cause of Chiwaya’s death.
