POLICE Commissioner General’s wife Isabela Chihuri is reported to have kidnapped and detained her former tenant Esinath Zuze for three days at her Greendale house using four armed ZRP officers.
Her crime: vacating the house leaving the walls ‘dirty’ with damaged and broken windows.
The incident happened at Number 5, Stragglers Close, Athlone, Greendale, Harare. Zuze had lived at the given address as a tenant for nine years till last month.
Police at Harare Central are said to have refused to assist Zuze’s relatives who reported the matter, saying they could not “act” against their “boss”.
She was only released after the intervention of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Zuze said she was picked up at about 10 am Monday from her workplace by one police officer who identified himself as Inspector Captain Kamusoni.
“He told me he was asked to pick me up and take me to Police General Headquarters. I asked what the issue was about and he said it was about where I used to stay. I asked for permission from my boss and she agreed,” said Zuze.
“When my boss offered a car and a driver to PGHQ Inspector Kamusoni refused and promised to drive me back. Surprisingly, when I got into the car there was Mr Chawasarira (Mrs Chihuri’s accountant).”
She added, “From there they drove straight to the house in Greendale where there were four armed policemen; that’s when Insp Kamusoni told me that I was brought to the house to clean and was not to leave until it was clean enough.”
According to Zuze, the officers were instructed to supervise the cleaning which she did with her bare hands. She was, however, eventually allowed to call her relative to bring some cleaning materials for her.
“I was kept under guard not allowed to get outside the gate. My relatives were allowed to come see me; at first they were not allowed to bring me food,” she added.
Zuze said Mrs Chihuri came on the first evening and told her that she was not going anywhere until she was satisfied that her property was clean enough.
“The most degrading part is I had no change of panties or sanitary wear as it was during my woman’s period time, I messed up and was so embarrassed in front of the men who were around me,” said Zuze.
The following morning, Zuze said she instructed to dig in the garden, cut the grass and do the flower beds.
All this time her relatives where being made to wait at Harare Central Police station as no police officer was willing to open a docket.
Police National Spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said it was normal for police officers to guard their bosses’ residential properties.
When this reporter told her that no police officer had been at the house for the last nine years guarding the property and that a former tenant was kidnapped and detained at the given address Charamba said she would look into the matter later.
Contacted for comment, Mrs Chihuri said she does not speak to the media.