Chihuri’s stay in power a ‘betrayal’

By Alex Bell
09 February 2012

Augustine Chihuri’s continued stay in his powerful position as Zimbabwe’s police chief is being described as a ‘betrayal’, regardless of the temporary nature of the job.

The leaders in the coalition government on Wednesday ‘agreed’ that Chihuri would remain in the post in an ‘acting’ capacity, while the police force is ‘regularised’ and suggestions for a permanent replacement are made. The ‘agreement’, by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, his deputy Arthur Mutambara and Robert Mugabe also states that who ever takes over from Chihuri will be a decision Mugabe makes in consultation with Tsvangirai.

The agreement effectively lets Chihuri keep control of the police force, with no clear timelines yet announced about when a successor will be chosen. Some media described this as a ‘win’ for the MDC-T, which has insisted that Chihuri has not been reappointed. But, as one Facebook user commented on Thursday: “If he (Mugabe) keeps losing fights like this ZANU PF will rule till donkeys grow horns.”

Exiled journalist Tanonoka Joseph Whande said on Thursday that the whole situation is another show of how little power the MDC wields in the unity government. He also said that allowing Chihuri to remain in power, even for just a short while “is a betrayal to the people of Zimbabwe.”

Describing the situation as a ‘betrayal’ may be a strong sentiment. But a look back at Chihuri’s behaviour over the last decade and longer provides much evidence for Whande’s argument.

For one thing, the Police Commissioner General was among a list of top ZANU PF officials who illegally benefited from the 1997 pay out to ‘War Victims’ from state coffers. The compensation fund saw the likes of Chihuri, Vice President Joice Mujuru, the CIO’s deputy Director-General Aaron Daniel Tonde Nhepera and others claiming up to 100% disability.

Many were ‘awarded’ hundreds of thousands of Zim dollars as compensation for their war injuries. The late war vets leader Chenjerai Hunzvi claimed 117% disability, leading to a fraud investigation which was not completed by the time of his death.

Chihuri is also one of the top six of Mugabe’s henchmen, who together form the notorious Joint Operations Command (JOC), which has orchestrated serious violence and brutality against the opposition for more than a decade. It is also widely speculated that the police chief was the main man responsible for the 2005 government sponsored ‘clean up’, Operation Murambastvina, which saw more than 700 000 people lose their homes and livelihoods. It is therefore not surprising that he is high on the list of Western targeted sanctions in place against Mugabe and his inner circle.

Chihuri was also implicated in 2009 as being part of a group of ZANU PF hardliners who aimed to sabotage the then fledgling unity government, with a nationwide campaign against “soft targets,” including the remaining white farmers, along with the continued detention of human rights and MDC activists. According to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, which quoted a source within the CIO, the plan was to prevent real reforms by the MDC and leave the way clear for ZANU PF to make a comeback at the next election.

Meanwhile, journalist and author Geoff Hill explained on Thursday how Chihuri is responsible for the politicisation of the police force, a problem that now runs so deep that “it would take years to depoliticise.” He said Chihuri, who has also chosen lieutenants in the force “who think like him,” has created a Mugabe-loyal police force that acts on political orders.

“This whole idea of Chihuri in an ‘acting capacity;’ simply continues the very bad tradition of a political police commissioner and his sycophants,” Hill said.

On the other hand, barely any ZANU PF members or party loyalists have ever faced action from police, despite proof of ZANU PF leading such violent campaigns.

The police chief’s hatred of the MDC meanwhile has also been clear and in 2010 the party, under Tsvangirai’s leadership, called for his removal after he called the MDC “puppets and running dogs” of the West.

“Hamutongenyika nezvimbwasungata, kana kuti puppets, kana kuti running dogs (You don’t allow puppets to run the country),” Chihuri said during a speech to police recruits in 2010. “Hakuna nyika inotongwa nerombe rakadaro. (No country is run by such irresponsible ignoramuses like that.)”

Chihuri repeated threats to overthrow any government not led by Mugabe and ZANU PF, telling the recruits that they should vote ‘wisely’. He also told the junior officers that Zimbabwe “came through blood and the barrel of the gun and it can never be re-colonised through a simple pen, which costs as little as five cents.”

The MDC-T meanwhile, despite agreeing on Chihuri to remain in the police commissioner post temporarily, recently compiled a dossier against the police chief, detailing his selective application of the law, numerous human rights violations and partisan approach to law enforcement.

In a 28-page document titled “Partisan Policing” detailing various violations allegedly committed by the police between 1999 and 2011, the MDC-T accused Chihuri of making inflammatory statements which undermine the
letter and spirit of the GPA.