The Sunday News
Nobuhle Nyoni Sunday News Correspondent
A BINGA man masqueraded as a police officer and took charge of a police base for two weeks, a court heard.
Thembelenkosini Ndlovu (25) appeared before Mr Jimmy Ntonga at Kezi courts facing two counts of impersonating a police officer, a count for escaping lawful custody and a count for obstructing justice.
The court heard that sometime in January the accused went to Sigangatsha police base under Sun Yet Sen Police Station in Kezi where he found a Constable Sawatama manning the base and introduced himself as a sergeant.
He told the constable on duty that he was on his way to visit his girlfriend and needed a place to sleep over intending to proceed with the journey the following morning.
However, Ndlovu remained at the station for two weeks and was the one in charge of the station since he had told Constable Sawatama that he was a sergeant.
It is understood that during his stay at the station he would on a number of occasions visit his girlfriend and come back.
Ndlovu then left the station for some months and made a comeback in April where he found a Constable Simbanegavi who was in charge of the station.
He introduced himself as an Assistant Inspector and since he had a police uniform with the relevant badges the constable never questioned him.
The matter, however, came to light on 9 April when the officer-in-charge of Sun Yet Sen was doing his regular check-ups as Ndlovu failed to produce relevant particulars.
He was arrested and put in a Land Rover Defender but when the vehicle was about to leave he asked the officers if he could get his bags which he had left in the room he was sleeping in.
However, when he got to the house he escaped through the back window.
The two police officers who had arrested him sensed that something was amiss when Ndlovu took longer than anticipated and searched for him in the house only to discover that he had escaped.
They gave chase and only managed to catch up with him after about four kilometres where they discovered that he had thrown away the badges.
Ndlovu pleaded guilty to all the charges he was facing and during interrogation it was discovered that he was once employed as a general hand at a police officer’s farm.
Asked where he got the uniforms from, Ndlovu initially said he got them during the 2013 Presidential elections.
However, when he was quizzed further, he said he bought material and asked a tailor in Bulawayo to sew the uniforms.
The fourth charge of trying to obstruct justice was dropped since he pleaded guilty.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison for the three counts of which five months were suspended on condition that he does not within the next five years commit a crime involving escaping lawful custody.
Mr Owen Mapolisa prosecuted.
