VED examiners arrested for issuing driver’s licence to woman who never wrote test

VED examiners arrested for issuing driver’s licence to woman who never wrote test

THREE Vehicle Examination Department (VED) officials stationed at the Chinhoyi depot have been arrested for corruption after they awarded a licence to a prospective driver without her even going to the testing centre.

The trio of Gerald Chitete (39), Silas Mabasa Zamba (40) and Daniel Mhlanga (40) on Thursday appeared before Magistrate Archie Wochiwunga facing criminal abuse of office charges as defined in Section 174 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

This followed their arrest on February 7 around 11 am.

The State’s case, led by Brighton Machekera, is that on February 2 at VED Chinhoyi, accused persons who are public officials were on duty charged with official duties of receiving, vetting, accepting and examining student drivers through yard and road tests.

The trio, acting in connivance and contrary to their duties as public officers, extended undue favour to an applicant, Linda Rwauya, by giving her a certificate of competence for Class Four (4) serial number LD291155 without taking her through the test process as is expected of them.

According to State papers, evidence linking accused persons to the crime includes a record of communication between the officials and Rwauya and an audio recording confirming the deal.

Also, some witnesses are willing to testify that the student driver never presented herself to the VED examiners to undergo testing.

Accused persons, whom Philimon Mazvazva represents from the Legal Aid Directorate, were remanded to February 27 for routine remand on US$200 bail each.