BULAWAYO residents have petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa to halt corrupt practices involving police officers at some stations in the city.
The letter, dated November 11 and addressed to Mnangagwa, was also copied to Officer Commanding Bulawayo Province Commissioner Wiklef Makamacha and Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister Judith Ncube.
The residents expressed concern over alleged corrupt activities by members of the police at Queens Park and Khumalo police stations in Bulawayo.
“There are over 300 illegal miners who are from Shurugwi, Gokwe, Tsholotsho and Kezi who are illegally mining gold under the protection of a senior police officer (name supplied).
“(The senior police officer) uses official government station vehicles, guns to escort these illegal miners who pay him US$10 000 per week,” they said.
The resident claimed a dealer (name supplied) had bought a house for the senior officer at Queens Park Police in question in Northend, Bulawayo, in exchange for protection.
“In the past six months, many people have been killed by these illegal miners at Marvel Substation. All these deaths have been covered up by the senior police officers (stationed at Queens Park, Khumalo Police and Suburban) who moved the deceased using unmarked cars and dumped them at corner Coghlan Avenue and Cecil Avenue and Bulawayo City Council pits,” the letter read.
“All these murders are then recorded as sudden deaths by Khumalo Police Station. To prove the assertion, your office can check and investigate how many sudden deaths dockets/suicides dockets have been recorded and or reported by Khumalo Police Station at Bulawayo Central in the last 10 months.”
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They said a man identified as Nyoni was allegedly killed by the gangs.
“A report was made to Queens Park Police and the senior officer (at) Suburban’s office and a covert operation was done to move the corpse ... and dumped his body at the pits at Corner Cecil and Coghlan Avenues,” the letter read.
“[The cause of] his death was recorded as sudden death in terms of the Khumalo records despite overwhelming evidence available to police officers who continue to cover up these crimes. They are the kingpins of illegal mining operations happening at Marvel Substation, Bulawayo.
“Our lives are now at risk as concerned citizens from the police mafia who are so brazen to kill civilians and dump them at the stated pits.”
Meanwhile, the residents also wrote to Bulawayo town clerk Christopher Dube indicating that they were worried by illegal mining done by a gold miner (name supplied) using a market gardening permit from the council office.
“Over 10 people have been killed by illegal miners at your [council] farm. Once they are killed, they are then dumped at Bulawayo City Council dump site,” read the letter.
The letters to the President and town clerk come at a time when lawyers representing Wolly Dog Mine Special grant 7980 in Bulawayo wrote a letter of complaint to Commissioner Makamacha over a case of murder involving illegal miners in which some senior police officers are accused of assisting in concealing the murder.
The murder reportedly happened on October 22 at Marvel Substation in Emhlangeni suburbs, Bulawayo.
The lawyers also revealed that following the complaint to the officer commanding Bulawayo province, a murder case has been opened under the homicide section at Bulawayo Central.
