Zimbabwe police have arrested an opposition supporter for allegedly killing an officer during recent skirmishes between law enforcers and vendors in the capital Harare.
Barnabas Mwanaka, aged 35 years, a resident of Harare’s Glenview high-density suburb, is facing charges of murdering policeman Talkmore Phiri, who was allegedly stoned to death last Thursday.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers charged that Mwanaka together and some accomplices, who are reportedly still at large and mostly vendors trading around the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), connived to attack some police officers attending a scene of malicious damage to property in the city centre.
Mwanaka, the ZRP officers reported, assaulted the now-deceased Phiri with stones and booted feet until he was rescued by his workmates who rushed him to the Morris Depot, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The suspect, who is represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, has denied committing the offence. A date has not been set for his appearance in court. Police have over the months been involved in running battles with vendors and taxi operators in Zimbabwe’s major cities.
A majority survives on menial jobs amid high unemployment rate, but also accuse equally-impoverished police officers of demanding bribes to evade arrest for petty or trumped up offences.
