A Harare court has acquitted Zimbabwe Republic Police officer Simbarashe Mandizvidza after medical experts concluded he was suffering from a serious mental disorder at the time of his actions.
The 35-year-old had faced charges including causing disaffection within the police force, transmitting false data, and fraudulently obtaining a police Ford Ranger from Police General Headquarters.
The case attracted national attention in August 2025 after Mandizvidza posted viral videos declaring himself Zimbabwe’s new Police Commissioner-General.
In the recordings, he announced major changes within the police force, ordered the dissolution of traffic police operations, and demanded that Chinese nationals leave Zimbabwe within 48 hours.
The Harare Magistrates Court heard that two independent state medical practitioners found Mandizvidza mentally unfit during the period in question and legally incapable of understanding the criminality of his actions.
Provincial magistrate Artwell Sanyatwe accepted the medical findings, leading to his acquittal on criminal grounds.
However, Mandizvidza was remanded back to Chikurubi Maximum Prison Psychiatric Hospital where he will continue receiving psychiatric treatment until specialists consider him fit for release.
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