Zimbabwean officer caught short

An UNLUCKY Zimbabwean police officer has been locked up for nearly three weeks - for using a toilet reserved for president Robert Mugabe.

Sergeant Alois Mabhunu was due to appear before a police court yesterday after 20 days in custody.

The murder squad detective was reportedly arrested on 7 May in Bulawayo after he pushed past police colleagues into a toilet reserved for the president at a city trade fair.

News of Sgt Mabhunu's arrest has only just filtered out because of the intensely secretive nature of the Zimbabwean police force.

He was reported to Mr Mugabe's security officers and imprisoned the next day in a barracks on the outskirts of the city.

Human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said: "There has to be a law saying the toilet is the president's, but this was a public one. They will have had to issue a proclamation in the government gazette specifying it."