A number of people were reportedly killed by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police in 2020. Some were allegedly innocent while some were alleged fugitives. We present a list of some of the people who died as a result of alleged police action.
Lodrick Marsweru
A police officer from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Support Unit allegedly shot and killed an innocent man by pumping four bullets into his chest in Mberengwa. The victim, Lodrick Matsweru (26), was visiting a friend, Danidzirai Muzhanduki, at Village 3 Rudway in Chief Bvute’s area. Police officers were looking for either Tichaona Muzhanduki or Doubt Chiponda suspected armed robbers but opened fire without asking any questions or verifying the identity of the person who opened the door.
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Paul Munakopa
Police officers fatally shot Paul Munakopa, a 34-year-old Bulawayo man around 10 pm and died in the morning. Police said Munakopa was in a black Honda Fit parked on a road and then sped off prompting police officers to chase him. The police added that during the chase, the Honda Fit turned and hit the officers’ car and a shoot-out ensued during which Munakopa was injured. Munakopa’s fiance, Mufudzi, who was also in the car said the police were in a Toyota Fortuner and there was nothing to show that police were driving it. Mufudzi added that the police shot at them without firing warning shots after chasing them for some time adding that one white man told the police that Munakopa was bleeding and asked for something to help prevent blood loss.
Morgen Sibanda and Dumisani Mofu – Victoria Falls
Two drunk soldiers identified as Bernard Sibanda and Bonang Nare both stationed at 1.2 Infantry Battalion in Hwange shot Morgen Sibanda, a tour guide with Wild Horizons, and his colleague Dumisani Mpofu at Chisuma Business Centre following an altercation. Reports say after the quarrel with the deceased duo, the soldiers retreated to the barracks where they took rifles which they used to kill Sibanda and Mpofu.
Levison Ncube
Bulawayo resident Levison Ncube, 25, died from “subarachnoid haemorrhage and head trauma” a few days after police allegedly beat him for allegedly violating Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 lockdown rules in April. TimesLIVE saw Ncube’s a post-mortem report conducted by a government pathologist at the local United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).
John Sithole (Suspected Robber)
Sithole was killed after a 24-hour standoff with the police in Dulivhadzimu suburbs, Beitbridge. Sithole had reportedly evaded an early arrest earlier before being tracked to a house where he locked himself and has been firing wide shorts. The police surrounded the house, waiting for him to finish up his ammunition so they safely could arrest him. Additional special tactical team members who were dispatched from Bulawayo managed to kill Sithole while he managed to shoot and wound one detective in the arm. Police had ordered him to surrender, but he turned violent and held 10 people at the house hostage and opened fire at the police who tried everything to make him surrender. He was a wanted man for crimes including armed robbery, murder and rape committed in Mberengwa, Beitbridge and Bulawayo.
