Cleared CID officer accuses ‘corrupt’ colleagues of set-up
There is a problem within Maun’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) if one of its officers is to be believed.
Describing the department as ‘rotten’, 49-year-old CID officer, Paphidzani Chivako accused his colleagues of driving him to depression, framing him for defilement.
Having recently returned from suspension while the courts cleared his name, Chivako, is currently on leave because he cannot bear to share an office with comrades who nearly sent him to jail for a long time for an offence he never committed.
This is his story.
“I have problems in my life. In 2021, I was accused of defiling an underage girl. I was framed by my work colleagues. I was suspended from work for five years. I was on half salary and my monthly deductions took everything and left my net at P00.00,” grumbles the Gxhabara ward, speaking to The Voice outside High Court, where he is the Investigating Officer (IO) in a murder case (see page 14).
At the time, he was staying with his school-going teenage daughter.
However, the single father’s crippling finances meant he had no choice but to send her back to live with her mother, who he had long separated from.
“I could no longer afford her school fees, let alone feed her or provide necessities. Things were tough. The mother took over.”
Because of the grave charge hanging over him, one by one his friends deserted him, including his then girlfriend.
“They no longer trusted me. They saw me as a paedophile, someone who cannot be trusted around their children, especially the girl child. It hurt so bad because I am not that kind of character and I have never been.”
Adding to his frustrations and mental turmoil, everyone assumed he was guilty, including his bosses.
“I tried explaining to them that this was a set-up but they did not believe me. I wrote letters and nobody listened. This threw me into deep depression, so much that some people went about spreading rumours that I was running mad. The same officers who framed me were rejoicing, spreading rumours that I was mad. I never went mad,” reiterates the tearful officer.
Chivako has little doubt as to his colleagues’ motivation.
“I believe it was basically office politics. The CID is rotten, especially Maun CID. Most of the officers there, not all of them, work with and aid criminals. They protect the criminals because they gain from crime proceeds, robberies and drugs, you name it. I was set-up because I worked closely with the boss and they probably thought I would snitch on them so they wanted me out of the way.”
Although Chivako was acquitted of any wrong doing by Maun Magistrates Court on 6th October, he is understandably bitter about the whole experience.
“Those five years were hell. I survived on my mother’s pension [she passed away in 2023] and my brother who is in the army assisted me as well. At some point I put up a stall before a shopping centre just so I could make some money and on Sundays I would borrow a taxi from a friend so I can survive, but I was warned that it was against the Botswana Police Service (BPS) rules to run a business on the side. I was reminded that I was a full member of the BPS but I was desperate for cash. I quit anyway and stayed home and continued to be a begging pauper,” he chuckles, albeit with misty eyes
Following his acquittal, Chivako’s five-year suspension was lifted and he resumed work on 1 November.
It was not a smooth return.
“As soon as I walked into the office, it evoked all the emotions because the very people whom I suspect have set me up, were right there in the office and I have to work with them. It pained me. It got me very angry at the same time and it worsened my situation and I had to request for emotional therapy.”
Referred for counselling, social workers at North West District Council recommended he be helped through BPS’s Psychological Support Unit, an arrangement that is currently on-going.
“I have, as a result, applied for 40-day leave as a coping mechanism and will resume duty on February 1st.”
By then, he hopes he will be based somewhere else.
“I do not only want transfer from Maun, I want to be transferred from CID. These guys are dangerous. I was threatened with a 30-year jail term for something that I did not do!”
Last Friday it was pay day and by Monday this week, Chivako had not yet touched his salary.
“I was so excited that I almost cried out; getting my own salary after so many years, that was so very exciting. All I have been doing since is checking my phone, looking at the balance and I get the satisfaction and joy that cannot be explained in words. I have been through hell, but well I am back.”
Meanwhile, when asked about Chivako’s accusations of a corrupt department and a set-up, recently retired Divisional CID boss in Maun area, Seargent Marapo expressed shock, maintaining this was the first he was hearing of such.
“That case was reported by the girl’s parents,” added Marapo.
Similarly, Officer Commanding for Maun Policing area, District 5, Molefhe Molefhe told The Voice Chivako never reported any suspicions of a set-up by his colleagues to him or his seniors.
“We are surprised because when he returned from his suspension we had an opportunity to talk. He was advised to go for counseling and he never once spoke about being framed or anything like that. The remedial intervention had to do with the long absence from work,” was Molefhe’s response.
