GWERU Officer-in-Charge Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Detective Inspector Leonard Gwandu who was recently arrested on allegations of criminal abuse of office after he reportedly released a vehicle suspected to have been stolen from South Africa without following due process has been suspended indefinitely.
Insp Gwandu, who first appeared before Gweru magistrate Tavengwa Sangster facing criminal abuse of duty charges as a public officer will be back in court tomorrow. He is on $1000 bail.
The State alleged that Gwandu released a Toyota Hilux Raider to businessman Mr Shepherd Tundiya without following due process.
The court heard that Mr Tundiya was arrested in October after having been suspected of driving a stolen vehicle which did not have registration numbers.
The vehicle was taken to CID Gweru where the accused is the Officer-in-Charge. It is alleged that the accused and other junior police officers checked the vehicle in the Interpol database which is installed in his office.
The database showed that the vehicle might have been stolen from Mr Thomas Blom in South Africa.
Mr Tundiya was subsequently charged with theft of motor vehicle. However, Mr Tundiya was acquitted on 13 December but was not given an order as to the disposal of the vehicle.
It was heard that the police had not initially handed over the vehicle documents and information to the Clerk of Court to enable the court to issue the order of disposition.
On 14 December, the court heard, the accused person released the vehicle which the South African Police Service were coming to identify.
Mr Tundiya has told the court that he bought the vehicle from a car dealer Mr Patrick Mutodi in Harare. He said he was also a victim in the event that the car was stolen.
Tundiya was recently accused of trying to extract a bribe from Bulawayo businessman, James Goddard ostensibly on behalf of Temba Mliswa with three other MPs.
The other MPs, who were implicated were Binga North MP Prince Dubeko Sibanda (MDC), Magwegwe MP Anele Ndebele (MDC), and Gokwe Kabuyuni MP Leonard Chikomba (Zanu PF), but they have all since been cleared by Parliament.
The MPs were then members of the mines portfolio committee, and it was alleged that they had promised to award Goddard lucrative contracts with Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) on condition he parted with $400 000.
Parliament’s privileges committee chairperson Fortune Charumbira who presented the report on investigations into the issue in the National Assembly said during the probe Tundiya was described as a ‘conman’.
Tundiya was also implicated in a forensic audit report on HCCL carried out by Reynolds Tendai Muza.
He was accused of extorting HCCL of1003 tonnes of coal worth US$17 000, which he was supposed to deliver to the Zimbabwe Power Company but he converted it to personal use.
Tundiya also allegedly masqueraded as an official in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) who was sent by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to sort out the mess at the coal mine.